How my life became a soap opera
by water wolf 100
Summary: For Max and her friends living in Los Angeles is an adventure. How do they cope with the daily insanity that seems to follow them? AH. Miggy.
1. Boring background info

How my life became a soap opera

My first ever AH Max Ride story! This one is Miggy (dodges thrown items). The gang lives in LA and they're just trying to get by day to day but for Max her life seems to be like a soap opera. How will she ever get through her senior year? Read to find out- reviews help too but please no flames! Enjoy!

Chapter 1 some boring background info

Max (short for Maximum) Batchelder

Age: 17, High school senior

Family- mom Valencia, dad Jeb, Sister Ella (age 14)

Iggy (real name James) Griffith

Age: 17, high school senior

Family: mom Robin, brother Gazzy (real name Michael age 7), Sister Angel (age 5), deceased father

Fang (real name Nick) Brown

Age: 17, high school senior

Family- dad Andrew, mom Sara (divorced from Andrew), step mom Vicky, half sister Nudge (real name Monique) age 14


	2. Water Wars and horror movies

Chapter 2: Water wars and horror movies

There was only one thing on my mind at that moment. Kill Fang. The idiot I call my best friend had recently dropped a water balloon on my head while I was listening to music in my backyard. The water had splashed all over me, my IPod and my plate of chocolate chip cookies. "You are so dead, Fang," I screeched as I chased him all over my backyard. He glanced back at me and laughed, but that only made me angrier.

Like the ninja he is, Fang hopped over the fence that separated his yard from mine. I sadly, was a little less coordinated then he was, and fell flat on my face trying to follow him. "Max! You ok?" Fang called over to me. He came to my side and knelt down on the ground next to me. I decided this would be the best time to get my revenge.

"I think I twisted my ankle," I whimpered. Hopefully Fang would buy my pity act and fall right into my plan. Fang sighed and ran his hand through his shaggy black hair. Fang reached out his hand and I took it happily. Pulling me to my feet, Fang carefully helped me walk over to one of the lawn chairs sitting by the Brown's pool.

"Max, what am I going to do with you?" Fang asked as he sat down next to me. I shrugged and rubbed my ankle like I really had hurt it.

"You know, Fang. Maybe if I soaked it in your pool it would help it feel better. The cool water would feel great I bet." Fang shook his head and helped me over to the pool. I grinned evilly, the idiot. Didn't know what was coming "Thanks Fang. This feels much better now," I said as I dipped my foot in the water. "But you know you look a little over heated. Why don't you take a swim?" With that, I pushed him straight into the pool. Fang instantly popped back up, sputtering water while I sat there laughing my head off. "And that ladies and gentlemen, is what happens when you mess with the best!"

I brushed a lock of brown hair out of my face and watched Fang as he climbed out of the pool. This was one of those days that made the fact Fang wore all black emo like clothing all the time so much sweeter. His entire ensemble was black and even though it was ninety some degrees out, he was wearing skinny jeans. "Are you two at it again?" a voice from behind me asked. I turned to see Nudge standing in the doorway looking at us with an amused smile on her face. Nudge was Fang's younger half sister. She was 14 and in the same class as my little sister Ella. Her real name was Monique but for some reason people started calling her Nudge and I just went along with it.

"I was just teaching your big brother a little lesson about messing with me," I said with a smile. I stuck my tongue out a Fang, who was still trying to ring water out of his t-shirt.

"Have fun with that. Oh I almost forgot, Iggy called, he said he's on his way over. Something about a new horror movie he just bought. And one more thing, I'll be over at your house Max, Ella and I are going to look at the new fashion magazines so I'll be back later," Nudge said in one long breath. That girl has some lungs on her, I once timed her and she talked for three straight minutes without taking a single breath.

"See you later," Fang called as his sister opened the gate on the fence between our yards. I then decided to sit in one of Fang's lawn chairs and wait for our other best friend Iggy to come. It was about a five minute drive to our street from his, well actually it was supposed to be a ten minute drive but with the way Iggy drove the time was cut in half. "So, what song were you listening to earlier?" Fang asked sitting down next to me. I opened one eye and looked over at him.

"Oh wouldn't you like to know?" I teased. Everyone on the planet knew Fang had a music obsession and I loved to tease him about how many songs he knew.

"Yeah, I would. Hence the reason of me asking."

"Nothing you would know," I said with a shrug. Fang sighed and dropped the subject. From inside his house I could hear his phone ringing. The song was unmistakable- I don't care by Fall Out Boy. Fang stood up and went inside to answer his phone. If I had to guess, it was his girlfriend Lissa. She called him like ten times a day, and it was just to say 'Fang I miss you!' or something stupid like that. I didn't mind Lissa; she was ok as far as preppy girls go. We talked occasionally but what really bugged me about her was how much of a control freak she was. I ignored his conversation and went back to sleeping in the sunlight.

Moments later a pair of hands covered my eyes and a voice whispered in my ear "I am here to devour your soul." I sighed wondering why I had such weird friends.

"Iggy, get away from me you weirdo," I mumbled twisting away from him. James, or Iggy as we called him, was my other best friend. I've actually known him longer then I've known Fang, we went to pre-school together. Almost a foot taller than me, Iggy stood out in a crowd due to his pale skin and strawberry blond hair. Iggy had a habit of wearing weird outfits, and today was no exception. He wore red and white plaid shorts, an electric blue t-shirt with the words 'Don't be afraid of my good looks', brown flip flops and to top it all off the navy blue Dodgers cap he never went anywhere without.

"How did you know it was me?" Iggy asked surprised. I sighed and shook my head at his stupidity.

"Please Ig, I could smell your nasty cologne before you even pulled into the driveway," I said laughing. "So, what's this about a horror movie?"

Iggy's grin just then stretched across his entire face. "Check this out! Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist on blue-ray! I've been dying to watch this for months." I took the movie out of Iggy's hand and started scanning the back. Personally I'm not a huge horror movie fan but I'll watch one every once in a while if it's decent. This one didn't look to bad so I smiled back at Iggy and handed him his movie.

"Fang's on the phone but once he gets off we can decide who's house to watch it at." No sooner than the words had left my mouth, Fang walked onto the back patio.

"Hey dude, sorry but I gotta go. Lissa says I have to come check something out at the mall but I'll catch you guys later. Kay?" Fang said as he stood in the door. While he was on the phone he had changed into dry clothes but his hair was still dripping wet, lying across his face in little black strings.

"Yeah man, do what you gotta do. But you're going to miss out on a great movie," Iggy said waving the movie back and forth in his face. Fang smiled but didn't say anything. He shut the door behind him and walked along the side of his house and climbed into his old Camaro. Even though we lived just outside LA, none of us were insanely rich. So Fang's stepmom made a deal with him, he could have a car of his choosing if he paid for half of it. He needed a car so he had to settle for the Camaro, and he was always working on it. I had recently named it Red Death. Due to how dangerous it was to be inside it.

"Well, now what? My house or yours? But just to let you know, Ella and Nudge are at my house looking at magazines," I told Iggy. That little piece of information was enough for him.

"My place," he said quickly. I laughed, knowing that he would want to put as much distance between himself and my insane little sister as possible.

"OK, let me run back to my house and get my phone," I said. I jumped up and ran through the gate and up our deck steps. Nudge and Ella were lying on their stomachs in the living room gawking over some magazine. "Ells, tell mom I'm going over to Iggy's," I yelled as I grabbed my phone from the kitchen counter. I heard her yell ok and then I ran back out my front door. Iggy was already waiting in his Ford Ranger. He was tapping on the steering wheel waiting for me to come outside. When he saw me, he pushed the passenger door open and I climbed in.

"Don't kill us," I begged. I said that every time I got in Iggy's truck. Even though his truck was in better shape than Fang's car, he was a terrible driver. If my mom didn't trust Iggy so much, she would never let me in a car with him.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Iggy said with one of his trademark grins. He sped off down the street and before I knew it we were at his house. I sat there for a moment longer, trying to regain control of my body. I never knew a truck could stop so suddenly without actually hurting anything. "Sorry Max that sign just popped out of nowhere," Iggy said sheepishly as he turned the truck off.

"Ig, you've driven through that intersection every day of your life. How could you not know it was there?" I practically yelled at him. "I swear you drive like you were blind or something." Iggy shrugged, not denying my insult. He got out of the truck and hopped over the hood to my side. Before I had the chance to open my door, Iggy had it open for me. Hr extended out his hand and helped me out of the truck.

"This may madam," Iggy said in a really bad French accent. I looked at him and we both started laughing hysterically. When we walked into Iggy's house I was surprised to find that it was quiet.

"Where are Gazzy and Angel?" I asked. Usually I couldn't even make it through the front door without Iggy's younger brother and sister attacking me with hugs.

"At a friend's," Iggy replied flatly. "All I know is that they aren't here to pester me." I knew Iggy was faking the whole thing. He loved his siblings with all his heart. In almost everyone's eyes, he was the perfect big brother. "So, I guess we have to place to ourselves to watch the movie. This means, we get to use the speakers!" Iggy's mom worked at an electronics store and one day she got to take home a surround sound system and Iggy loved nothing more than to sit home alone and watch movies using it.

"Awesome, I'll go make popcorn," I said. I had been over to Iggy's house so many times, I knew where everything was. No one there ever minded me making food for us or finding something in the kitchen. I was like Mrs. Griffith's second daughter. Once I had a huge bowl of popcorn popped and two root beers in hand I walked back into the living room to find Iggy had the movie set up.

"Yes, sweet buttery goodness!" Iggy cheered. He turned off the lights and plopped down next to him on the couch. I sat next to him and spent the next two hours being terrified out of my mind. At one point I was so freaked out I hid my face in Iggy's shoulder and he put a gentle arm around my shoulders. Soon the movie ended and I allowed myself to relax.

"That's why I don't watch to many horror movies," I said once Iggy turned the lights on. I sat huddled on the couch, my eyes wide with fear.

"I'm sorry Max, I guess I should have warned you about how freaky this movie could get," Iggy apologized. He sat down next to me and proceeded to eat the remaining popcorn left in the bowl. "To bad Fang couldn't come. He would have liked it."

"I bet so, but he's too busy hanging out with his controlling girlfriend," I muttered.

"Oh I think someone is jealous," Iggy joked. He poked my side playfully but I swatted him away.

"No I'm not, you know that. I just wish Fang would spend some time with us for a change, but every minute of his life seems to be focused on Lissa. It's like he's forgetting we exist. When was the last time we had pizza party?" I asked. Iggy shrugged and began sucking the butter off of his fingers. Ever since we were little kids, every Saturday the three of us would get together and make homemade pizza. Then we would sit in a circle on the kitchen floor and play cards while eating our pizza. But once Fang started dating Lissa, it was just me and Iggy at our pizza party.

"Hopefully, he'll come to his senses and be the Fang we all know and love," Iggy said cheerfully. I hoped he was right, or else, we might lose Fang forever.


	3. Stranded

Chapter 3: Stranded

The sound of my phone ringing brought me out of my nice dream. I was dreaming that our school was attacked by a plague of locusts and we didn't have to go back until November. Hey, a girl can dream right? Grumbling, I climbed out of my nice soft bed and picked up my phone from my dresser. To my surprise it was Fang "Yo, what's up?" I asked sleepily.

"Hey Max, you want to come hang out at the mall today?" Fang asked. He sounded a little too perky for this early in the morning but I didn't say anything.

"Sure, but you're going to have to drive. My mom took my car to work since hers is in the shop," I responded. My mom's car had some issue with the air conditioner so two days ago she had taken it in to be fixed. And that left me without a car, since she needed one to get to work.

Fang laughed from the other end of the line. "It's a little out of my way, but I think I can come get you." I rolled my eyes but laughed along. "Come over in ten?"

"I'll be there." I hung up my phone and set it back down on the dresser. Rummaging through some drawers I found a pair of jean shorts and a school homecoming t-shirt from the past school year. Then I brushed my hair and swiftly pulled it up into a ponytail. As I walked to the bathroom I passed Ella, who was still in her pajamas.

Ella was defiantly not a morning person so she glared at me as if I was the cause of her waking up. "Where are you going so early?" she asked.

"Mall with Fang. You want anything?" I asked as I reached the bathroom. Ella shook her head and went back into her room. Once I was finished getting ready and ran down my stairs and out the back door. I walked into Fang's backyard to see his stepmom out there watering her flowers.

"Good morning Max!" she said cheerfully. "Fang's in the kitchen. Do you want anything for breakfast? There's fruit and cereal and I think Andrew left some bagels here as well."

"Thanks Vicky that would be great. My mom forgot to go grocery shopping again so we don't have any food in our house. The flowers look great by the way," I said giving a small wave to her. Fang's dad and his mom had gotten divorced when we were really little and a few years later he married Vicky. I loved her like a second mom, she was always so cheerful.

"Thanks sweetheart, I'll see you later on," Vicky said. She turned around and went back to watering her flowers. I opened up the sliding glass door and felt the cool air from the air conditioner hit my face. Fang was nowhere in the living room so I made my way to the kitchen and found a large bowl of grapes sitting there.

I sat down in one of the wooden chairs and began eating the grapes. A few minutes later I heard Fang make his way down the stairs. "Well there you are. Geez, I thought girls took a long time to get ready," I teased. Fang rolled his eyes and grabbed an apple from the counter.

"Ready to go?" he asked. I nodded and got up from the chair. Fang grabbed his keys and we walked out the front door and climbed into his car. As Fang backed out of the driveway I gave one last wave to Vicky, who was watering flowers in the front yard now. She waved back and disappeared from view as Fang drove down the street. We made our way into downtown LA and after fifteen minutes of driving in circles, Fang finally found a parking spot.

"Well that was frustrating," I said as I climbed out of his car. Besides not being able to find a parking spot, we had the worst luck with other people driving. Some old lady had almost hit us with her PT Cruiser and Fang was cut off at least seven times.

"Tell me about it. That's what I hate about this place. It's so frustrating to get anywhere. Maywood really needs to get a mall." I silently agreed with him. Our little town was great and all but if we wanted to do anything fun, we had to drive into downtown LA. As usual, the mall was insanely crowded. People always seemed to go to the mall when it was hot out. Fang and I weaved our way through crowds of people and finally found an area where we could breathe and concentrate on finding stuff to buy.

We spent the next three hours wandering around the mall, one of us occasionally buying something. I wasn't that big into shopping but I did get a new pair of converse and a couple CDs. It was totally worth it. We finally decided to take a break and grab something to eat. As we sat in the food court, Fang and I watched all the people walk by us, shopping bags in hand. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, Fang was never a big talker and I was ok with that. "So," I finally said after a few minutes. "You coming to pizza party tomorrow?"

"I want to, but I can't. Lissa is dragging me to some party here in LA. She said it was the party of the summer and that we couldn't miss it."

"Oh, that's cool I guess." There he went again, some other reason to blow me and Iggy off. Fang didn't say anything else. We finished our food then continued to walk around the mall. I was almost broke so I didn't buy anything else. I had to save a little of my money since I only got paid from work once a month. I glanced down at my phone and saw that it was almost seven o'clock. We had spent almost eight hours at the mall. That was a new record for me.

As we walked along, Fang's phone rang and he quickly answered it. I knew who it was and I pretended to ignore Fang as he talked to his girlfriend. "Yeah but babe I can't tonight. Can't we go tomorrow? Yes I know I'm already here but Max is here too," Fang said slowly to Lissa. I knew exactly where this was going. Lissa wanted Fang to go shopping with her and that meant I would be dragged along.

I looked over at Fang and mouthed, "Go." Even though I really didn't want him to go and leave me here at the mall I figured it would be easier for him. Fang looked at me apologetically and continued to talk to Lissa. He told her that he would be there in ten minutes.

"I'm so sorry Max, Lissa apparently needs my opinion on some dress for the party tomorrow," he said sadly. I shrugged and didn't say anything. "Look I have to go, are you sure you'll be able to find a ride home?"

"Yeah, I'll just call my mom or something. Go have fun with your girlfriend. And good luck," I said. Fang smiled and took off in the opposite direction. I found a nearby empty bench and sat down. As I scrolled through my contacts I realized that my mom couldn't come get me. She was working late at the hospital and my dad was out of town again on another business trip.

I finally decided to call Iggy. Hopefully he wasn't doing anything to important and could come get me. His phone rang about three times before he finally picked up. "Hey, what's up?" Iggy asked in his usual cheerful voice.

"Not a whole lot. Hey are you doing anything important right now?" I asked.

"Nope. Just organizing files on my computer. Why?"

"Well, I was here with Fang but he had to go do something with Lissa. So now I'm stuck here. Can you come get me?" I pleaded. The other end of the line went silent and I thought I had dropped the call. "Ig, you there?"

"Yeah I'm here. I'm on my way," Iggy said shortly. I thought I also heard him mumble some curses under his breath but I wasn't sure. I hung up the phone and made my way outside to wait for Iggy. The sun was slowly beginning to set, turning the normally bright blue sky a vibrant red. I loved sunsets; they were of my favorite things to watch in the summer. I sat on a bench outside the mall and watched the sun sink into the horizon.

"Hey, what's a cute young lady like yourself doing out here all alone?" a male voice asked. I snapped my head around and saw some big guy a few years older than me standing behind me with a big smirk on his face. He was dressed as a gangster and had several long scars running down the side of his face.

"Buzz off," I muttered. I silently hoped Iggy would come soon. I didn't want to be anywhere near this guy. Not that I was a wimp or anything. I was actually one of the toughest girls in my class, and defiantly the strongest. But not even I could stand up to some thug like this guy. He had to be at least twice my height and a hundred pounds heavier.

"Aw, come on don't be like that. I'm just trying to be friendly," he said sitting down next to me. I scooted away from him as much as I could but the bench wasn't very big. The big idiot the tried to grab my wrist so I stood up and backed away from him. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw Iggy's truck pull up to the curb. He took one look at my face and then at the guy trying to hit on me and he climbed out of the truck and walked over to me.

"Ready to go Max?" Iggy asked, his voice shaking with anger. He glared at the gangster and put a protective arm around my shoulders. I didn't even glance back at the guy as we walked over to Iggy's truck. He opened the door for me and I climbed in. Giving one last death glare at the guy, he got into the driver's seat, buckled his seat beat and sped off down the street.

"Thanks Ig," I said after a few minutes. Iggy nodded but didn't say anything. I happened to look down at his hands and I noticed he was white knuckling the steering wheel. "Iggy calm down before you kill us." He put on his turn signal and pulled over onto a quiet neighborhood street.

He took a few deep breaths and ran his hand through his hair a few times before looking at me. "Look I'm sorry but I'm just pretty steamed right now. Next time I see Fang, I'm going to kill him. What was he thinking? Leaving one of his best friends stranded at the mall? In downtown LA of all places! How stupider could you get?" I sat there in silence as Iggy ranted on and on. Eventually his yelling started giving me a headache so I grabbed his hand and he instantly stopped talking.

"Yeah, I'm mad at him too. But there's not a lot we can do about it. Let's just go home and figure out what to do about Fang later. And if you don't calm down, I'm driving us home. I don't want a car crash to top off this wonderful evening," I said. Iggy nodded and took a few more deep breaths. He put the truck in drive and we continued our way home. Eventually Iggy seemed to calm down and we talked about random things like craziest food combinations and worst bands of the past decade. Eventually we reached my house and Iggy turned off his truck.

"So I'm guessing it's just going to be me and you at Pizza Saturday tomorrow?" Iggy asked. I nodded and Iggy sighed and shook his head.

"Apparently there's a party tomorrow night and it's the 'party of the summer' so Lissa is dragging Fang along. And naturally we aren't invited so looks like I'm stuck hanging out with you," I responded. Iggy looked at me like I just told him I ran over his puppy.

"That hurts Max; that hurts really deep. I thought we were closer than that," Iggy said with fake sadness. He put his hand over his heart and sighed. I rolled my eyes and opened the door to his truck.

"You're such a dork. But that's ok, cuz you're my dork. And Ig, thanks for helping me out with that freak," I said with a small smile. Iggy grinned and reached over to give me a big hug.

"No problem. But next time, wait inside the mall until I get there. OK?" he said, releasing me from his hug.

"Absolutely. Though, let's just hope there isn't a next time. I don't want to get stranded at the mall again." Iggy laughed and I climbed out of his truck. Iggy sat in my driveway until I had my front door open. I turned and gave a small wave as Iggy backed out of my driveway and disappeared from sight. As I walked into m house, I was greeted with blaring music. I instantly recognized the song and sighed. Ella was playing California Girls again, she had recently become obsessed with that song and I couldn't stand it.

"California girls, we're unforgettable! Daisy dukes, bikinis on top. Sun kissed skin, so hot we'll met your Popsicle! Ooooh oh oohhhh," Ella sang from her bedroom. I had to put an end to this, fast. I ran up the steps, two at a time and opened the door to Ella's room. She was facing her wall, singing insanely off key. I crept along her wall until I reached her stereo and I quickly ripped the cord out from the socket. The song was caught off mid word and Ells whipped around to face me.

"Sorry Ells, but I don't want to listen to the neighbors complain about a dog howling," I said with a sly grin. Ella glared at me, trying to decide what to do since I ruined her fun. Realizing that there could be some problems with making her mad, I decided that it would be best if I got out of there as fast as I could. I dropped the cord and sprinted out of her room.

"I'm going to get you Max!" Ella screamed. She tore after me; but I was faster. After running through every room on the top floor, I thought I could lose her downstairs. I reached the staircase and began running down the stairs. But, me being the insanely uncoordinated person I am, I slipped on one of the stairs. There was that moment of weightless suspension when you first slip on a stair, and then I fell.


	4. Hospitals and Tacos

Chapter 4: Hospitals and Tacos

I lay flat on my back for a few seconds, trying to figure out what happened. One minute I was running from Ella, and now I'm lying on my back looking at the ceiling. Plus, there was this killer pain in my wrist. "Max!" Ella screamed. She practically flew down the rest of the stairs and knelt beside me. "Max, are you ok?"

"Do I look ok?" I snapped. I tried to stand up but a wave of pain shot through my ankle as I did and I fell back down again.

"I'm calling Mom," Ella stated. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed our mom's work number. "Hi Mom. Max fell down the stairs and hurt her ankle. What should I do?" Ella listened for instructions and occasionally nodded. "But how are we going to get there? You have Max's car, remember?" Ella nodded some more, said bye and hung up the phone.

"What did she say?" I asked. I had given up trying to stand, every movement I made with my ankle hurt, and so did my wrist.

"I'm going next door. Mom said to ask Andrew or Vicky to drive us to the hospital. Mom said she'll be there soon but first she has to finish up some paperwork for a surgery she did on a beagle yesterday." I groaned. I hated hospitals, they were full of sick people and needles freaked me out. Ella put on her shoes and ran next door to Fang's house. I sat on the floor and waited for her to come back. A few minutes later, Ella opened the door.

"So what's up?" I asked seeing that Ella was alone.

"Nudge answered the door. She said her parents went out to a dinner party and Fang isn't back from shopping yet. Which weird considering he was the one who drove you two to the mall. I have no idea how we're going to get you to the hospital now." Ella sat on the ground beside me and rubbed her temples. Then, I was hit with an idea.

"We'll take the convertible," I said with a grin. Our dad owned a midnight blue Nissan Silvia that was his pride and joy. It usually sat in out garage since he drove the company car to all his business meetings. We weren't allowed to drive it, but considering this was an emergency I figured it would be ok.

Ella's eyes grew twice their size when I mentioned the convertible. If anything happened to that car, we'd be grounded for the rest of our lives. "But I can't drive," Ella stated. I rolled my eyes, she may not be able to drive, but I can.

"Help me," I demanded. Ella helped me to my feet and let me lean against her as we slowly made out way to the garage. I grabbed the keys to the convertible on my way out and I have to admit, it felt good to hold them.

"Are you sure you'll be able to drive?" Ella asked as she helped me into the driver's seat. I pulled on my seat belt with my non injured hand and Ella climbed into the passenger seat.

"Not a clue, but we don't have much of a choice do we?" I said. Using my left hand, I put the key into the ignition and the car jumped to life. Since I couldn't bend my right wrist at all, I rested it on the bottom of the steering wheel and used my left hand to do most of the driving.

Ella gripped the arm rest as I backed out of the driveway and made my way down the street. It was a pretty short ride to the hospital from where we lived so it didn't take long for us to get there. I parked in an empty spot and Ella helped me out of the car. We made our way to the lobby and when we did I collapsed into a chair. Ella talked to the receptionist while I looked at the people in the lobby. There weren't too many, a man with very tired looking eyes, an older woman holding a young child on her lap and two college age boys who looked like they were about to pass out.

"Ms. Batchelder, the doctor will see you now," a cheery nurse said. She had a wheel chair ready and Ella helped me climb into it. The nurse wheeled me out of the lobby and into one of the small rooms where I had to wait for the doctor for what felt like hours. Finally, there was a knock on the door and a middle age man walked into the room. His hair was beginning to grey and on the very top it looked like he had the starting of a bald spot.

"Well Ms. Batchelder, looks like you had quite the fall," he said. "I'm Dr. Peters and I'll be the one fixing you up." I smiled politely and told him how I fell down the stairs. He then felt my ankle and wrist, then took me into another room for some X-rays.

"So, how bad is the damage?" I asked when he returned with the X-rays.

"You are one lucky young lady. You're going to come out of this with just a sprained ankle and wrist. Trust me; it could have been a lot worse. I'll have the nurse get you some braces and crutches then you can be on your way," Dr. Peters said with a cheerful grin. He shook my hand and left the room and a couple minutes later a nurse walked in with some braces and a set of crutches. She showed me how to wear the braces around my ankle and wrist so that they will heal properly and then sized the crutches so I could comfortably hobble along.

She led me out into the waiting room where my mom and Ella were waiting. As soon as my mom saw me she jumped up and gave me a hug. "Sweetheart, are you all right? How many times do I have to tell you not to run on the stairs?" she asked.

"I don't really know. I have a feeling the lesson will never really sink in," I joked. My mom gave me a 'don't be a smart mouth' look and talked to the nurse for a few minutes. As we walked out of the waiting room, I realized that we hadn't told our mom that I had to drive the convertible here.

"Um, Mom. We have something to tell you," Ella said. She took the words right out of my mouth. "Neither Vicky or Andrew drove us here. Max drove," she confessed. My mom turned to face me, with a look that was filled with confusion and a little bit of anger.

"Wait, the only car that was at the house was. Maximum Anne Batchelder you drove your father's car!" my mom yelled. I cringed at the use of my full name but didn't say anything.

"It was an emergency Mom! Nudge was the only one home at her house and we needed to get here so there really wasn't much of a choice," I argued. Mom was about to respond, but stopped herself.

"All right, since you can't drive home. We're going to have to leave your car here and I'll drive your father's car home. I'll ask Vicky to come with me tomorrow to get yours or something." We reached my dad's car and Ella hopped into the back seat while I sat shotgun. My mom drove us home and the first thing I did when we got inside was collapse onto the couch. I was exhausted, it had been such a long day and all I wanted to do was sleep.

"Night Max, I'm going to bed!" Ella called. She followed Mom up the stairs and I was left alone to get some much needed sleep. I was in the middle of another very nice dream when the sound of banging woke me up. Someone was at our back door but I was too lazy to get up and see who it was.

"Ella, get the door!" I called. I heard Ella walk past me and open the door that led to our deck.

"Hey Ells. Is Max still sleeping?" someone asked. I knew that voice anywhere, it was Fang.

"She's on the couch. I have to go now though, I'm meeting Nudge at the library. See you later Fang!" I counted the footsteps as Fang crossed the span of the living room.

"What happened to you?" Fang asked me. I opened one eye sleepily and looked up at him. His dark eyes kept wandering between my wrist, my ankle and my crutches.

"Fell down the stairs," I muttered. I sat up and stretched. I hadn't realized how tired I was last night but now I felt a lot better. "Sprained my wrist and ankle. Last night was not a lot of fun."

"That sucks, sorry Max. And again I'm sorry for ditching you at the mall yesterday. I hope you didn't have any trouble getting home," Fang said with a small smile. I frowned at him but didn't say anything. The last thing I needed was Fang trying to make up for ruining my evening.

"So what's up?" I asked, hoping to change the subject. Fang hopped over the back of the couch and sat down next to me.

"Not a whole lot, I got home last night and Nudge said something about you and Ella needing a ride somewhere. She sounded a little worried so I thought I'd come over and see what happened."

"Well now you know," I said flatly. Fang didn't say anything in response, so we just sat there on the couch. Unlike yesterday's silence, this was totally awkward. I kept looking at Fang and he looked like he wanted to say something but he never did. As we sat there, I let my mind wander. I thought about all the fun we used to have as kids and how close we all were. Everything seemed so simple then. But, Fang started dating Lissa and he almost completely forgot about us. He still talked to us a lot and stuff, but Lissa always came first.

"Um, hey I have to get going. My dad is making me go visit my mom today," Fang said with disgust in his voice. He despised his mom for leaving him and his dad but he still had to go see her once in a while.

"Good luck with that," I said laughing. Fang stuck out his tongue at me and gave me a high five and walked out of my house. I then heard my phone vibrate but I had no idea where it was. I ended up having to get off the couch and look on the floor. Somehow my phone ended up under the couch so I snatched it up and pressed talk before I missed the call.

"Max, why didn't you answer any of my texts last night?" Iggy's voice whined from the other end of the line. "I texted you like twenty times"

"Oh sorry Iggy, I didn't have my phone on me last night. Things were a little crazy around here," I apologized.

"How is that any different than normal?" Iggy knew that Ella and I fought all the time, but this was the first time it ended up with a hospital trip.

"Well it started out no different than normal, but this time the night ended up with a trip to the hospital."

"What? Is everyone OK? Did something happen at your mom's work? Was there an accident?" Iggy yelled into the phone. At that point I knew I had lost him, so I held the phone away from my face and whistled as loudly as I could. "Ouch! What was that for?"

"Calm down Ig. It's not that big of a deal. I was running down the stairs and I ended up slipping and falling. So now I'm stuck here at home with a sprained wrist and ankle. That's all that happened," I explained slowly.

"You're sure you're ok?" Iggy asked again.

"I'm positive. But I don't think I'll be able to go over to your house for the Pizza, can we have it here?"

"Defiantly. Actually, I'm not doing anything right now, you want to hang out? I can bring stuff to make my famous tacos." I grinned from ear to ear at the mention of Iggy's tacos. They were the most amazing things in the entire world. I once asked him what makes them so good but he refused to tell me. It was some deep dark secret that he would carry with him to the grave.

"Please and thank you," I said happily. I said goodbye to Iggy, then attempted to make my way up the stairs so I could put on some clean clothes. It took me a while to make it up the stairs but I finally did and I hobbled down to my bedroom. Since laundry day was tomorrow, I had virtually no clothes. After some rummaging I found a pair of basketball shorts and a green tank top. It would have to do. While I was changing I heard a knock on the door downstairs. Looking out my window I saw Iggy's trucked parked in out driveway. "Come on in Iggy! The door's open!" I yelled. I heard the sound of the door closing so I grabbed my crutches and made the attempt to go down the stairs.

"Max, you're going to hurt yourself," Iggy warned as he watched me hop down the steps. I clung onto the banister for dear life as I inched my good foot forward down each step. "I can't watch this anymore." Iggy climbed halfway up the steps, picked me up and carried me down the rest of the stairs over his shoulder.

"Iggy put me down right now!" I yelled. I couldn't see his face, but I knew that he was smirking at my reaction. That's just something he would do. He carried me all the way into the kitchen and finally sat me down on one of the chairs. "Was there a point to all of that?"

"If you had fallen again, you could have like I don't know, broken your other ankle. I decided that it would be better if I simply moved you. Now, let's make tacos!" Iggy clapped his hands together and grinned. I sat there and watched as he mixed, fried, washed various ingredients. I smartly sat back and didn't talk to Iggy. He was in his zone and I didn't dare to intrude. I would have offered to help but I learned a long time ago that I should stay out of the kitchen. Me and cooking utensils don't mix very well. I can barely make ice.

"Is it ready?" I finally dared to ask twenty minutes later. Iggy turned back to face and me smiled. He carried a plate over and set in down in the middle of the table. On it sat a dozen steaming hot tacos, ready to be eaten. I snatched one up and took a big bite, letting the spicy flavor sink into my mouth. "You've outdone yourself this time Ig. I think these are the best tacos you've ever made in your life," I murmured between bites. Iggy didn't say anything; he was too busy stuffing his face with his second taco.

I heard the front door open but I didn't check to see who it was. "What smells so good? Did someone get takeout?" a male voice asked. My head shot up and I looked over at Iggy. I knew that voice anywhere.

"Dad!" I yelled. I forgot that I needed the crutches so I almost fell flat on my face when I stood up. Iggy snickered and handed mw my crutches. I hobbled into the entry way and saw my dad standing there taking his shoes off. "What are you doing here? You weren't supposed to be home for another week!" I yelled happily. I gave him a huge hug and almost fell on my face again.

"Your mom called and told me about the accident. Are you all right Sweet Pea?" he asked. I nodded and balanced myself on my crutches.

"I'm fine dad." My dad looked at me and shook his head. He knew how much of a klutz I could be but this was the pinnacle of my klutziness.

"Hi Mr. Batchelder," Iggy said coming out of the kitchen.

"Hello there, son. How have you been young man?" my dad asked. My dad was the only one of all our parents that we used the proper last name for. My mom, Fang's parents and Iggy's mom all let us call them by their first name. "I have to ask, what is that amazing smell?"

"Tacos, sir. I made tacos for lunch," Iggy replied politely. My dad laughed and made a beeline straight for the kitchen. Iggy and I followed and watched as my dad took a bite out of one of the remaining tacos.

My dad sat there, chewing the taco like it was the last bit of food on earth. "This is amazing. You have a real talent here son," he said after finishing. "Now sorry to eat and run kids, but I have to go down to the office and turn in my paperwork. Max, tell your mom I'll be home for dinner," he said brushing the crumbs off of his pants. He put his shoes back on and walked out the door.

"Well, that was an interesting visit. Max, your dad scares me a little bit," Iggy admitted. I laughed and began eating another taco.

"He has that effect on people I suppose. So what do you want to do until dinner?" I asked. I put the rest of the food in the fridge, figuring Ella would want some when she got back from the library.

Iggy stood there for a minute, scratching his head in thought. He snapped his fingers and said, "I know! Let's go down to the old park. We haven't been there in a long time." I nodded thinking of all the fun we used to have in our small neighborhood park. It was nowhere close to the size of the parks on the other side of the town but it was a good size for the couple of streets in our area.

"Let's go," I said happily. Iggy held the door open for me and we walked outside to his truck. Just as he was about to start driving his phone rang.

"Hi mom," he muttered. "What? Why? But Mom I-ok fine. Yeah I'll be there in a few minutes. OK, ok, yes Mom! Bye!" Iggy snapped his phone shut and sighed.

"What's up?" I asked him.

"I have to go pick up Angel and Gazzy. My mom got called into work. Do you mind if they tag along?"

"Not at all, I love your siblings. They're so sweet." Iggy snorted and turned the truck on. I laughed and stared out the window, watching the rows of houses go by. I then realized something very important; school was going to start soon. And we were going to be seniors. "Do you realize that next week we start school? And that we're going to be seniors?" I asked.

Iggy snapped his head in my direction and stared at me. "Don't use the S word," he hissed.

"Which S-word? Seniors or school?" I asked. Iggy cringed but kept driving. "Some on Ig, we're going to be the top dogs! That has to count for something," I said hopefully. In all honesty I dreaded the start of school, I had to be around people I didn't like and had to be respectful to teachers who were cranky all the time. It wasn't a picnic. Iggy pulled into his driveway and honked the horn twice. The front door opened and two little kids darted out. Gazzy was like a mini Iggy, blond hair, and blue eyes and was skinny as a beanpole. Angel had this huge mass of blond curls that bounced when she walked. Her hazel eyes peaked out from behind her bangs and freckles sprinkled her cute nose.

"Max! I didn't know you were coming too," Angel squeaked as she climbed into the backseat of the truck. She was the cutest little kid in the world and all I wanted to do was take her home with me and have her be my other little sister.

"Hey Iggy, will you push me really high on the swings? Mom doesn't do it when she takes me," Gazzy asked as he sat down next to his little sister.

"Sure," Iggy said with a smile. He backed out of the driveway and headed towards the park.


	5. A fight, pizza and cute boys

Chapter 5: A fight, pizza and cute boys

We reached the park in a few minutes and Gazzy and Angel practically flew out of the backseat and tore off towards the swings. Iggy helped me out of the truck and handed me my crutches. I hobbled off towards the swings and sat down to watch Angel and Gazzy. "Max, watch how high I can go!" Angel cheered. I watched as she practically sailed through the air, laughing the whole time.

"That's great Angel. You're getting really good at swinging," I responded. I remember last summer she couldn't swing at all and it amazed me to see how much she had improved in one year. I watched as Iggy pushed Gazzy on the next swing, giving him the occasional underdog. They all looked like they were having a lot of fun. As I sat there I felt my phone vibrate and I was surprised to see that it was a text from Fang.

It read, "What r u up 2? I need some1 2 talk 2 about stuff. Can I meet u som where?" I wondered what Fang could want to talk about. And why he was choosing to talk to me, why not his girlfriend?

I hit respond and typed " park w/ Iggy, Ange and Gaz. U can come meet me here" I hit send and waited for a response. A few seconds later my phone went off again and all it was "k" A few minutes later I spotted Fang's car pull into the parking area of the playground. I waved at him and stood up from the swing.

"Max, where are you going?" Angel asked. She stopped swinging and looked at me with a puzzled look on her face.

I'll be right back; I need to go talk to Fang for a minute. You keep swinging, all right?" I told her. I picked up my crutches and made my way over to where Fang was standing. "What's up?" I asked as I reached him.

"Hey, I need to talk to you," Fang said in a serious voice. My blood froze over as I looked at him. Fang hardly ever talked in such a harsh tone, especially never towards me. "I-I don't know how to say this Max. But Lissa thinks that you hate her," Fang said flatly. I felt my mouth drop open and my eyes grow wide. Where in the world did Fang come up with that huge lie?

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't hate Lissa, I have nothing against her," I sputtered. My brain was fried to a crisp and I could barely make another logical sentence. "Where did she get that idea?"

"Well, I'm guessing she got the idea when she got a text saying that you hated her and wanted to claw her face out. But that's just a guess," Fang snapped. I was in such shock all I could do was stand there and stare at him.

"I never said that! How could you even believe for one minute that I would say something like that about her?"

"That's what Lissa told me. She even showed me the text. I came here trying to figure out what could have possessed you to even say that."

"Will you listen to yourself? Are you really going to take the side of a girl you've been dating for five months? Or me, your best friend since we were four years old. You know what? I'm not going to listen to this any longer. You want to throw around accusations be my guest. But don't involve me," I snapped as I turned around. Due to my crutches, I couldn't leave very quickly, which gave Fang plenty of time to grab my wrist and turn me around. Little did he know, that was my bad wrist. I yelped in pain as my sore wrist was turned sharply and I tried to pull away from him.

A second later, another person stepped between me and Fang, pushing him away. "Dude, what's your deal?" Iggy snapped at Fang. "Have you totally lost it?" Fang looked between the two of us. Me looking totally freaked out and Iggy looking like he was going to kill someone.

"I'm out of here. Max, I still can't believe it's come to this," Fang muttered as he opened his car door. Iggy and I watched in silence as he drove away.

"Max! Are you ok? We heard you yell. What happened?" Gazzy called as he and Angel ran over to us. I ruffled Angel's hair and smiled at Gazzy. They were both so cute.

"It's nothing guys, I just got into a little argument with Fang and he accidently grabbed my hurt wrist," I said showing them my wrist brace. That was all the explanation they needed so without another word the turned and ran off towards the monkey bars. Iggy on the other hand, wanted the full story. "There's apparently some rumor going around that I hate Lissa and want to claw her face out. I never said either of those things but Fang believes his girlfriend instead of me," I fumed. Iggy didn't say anything; he just stood there and cracked his knuckles.

"That jerk," he finally muttered. He then glanced over his shoulder to make sure Angel and Gazzy were out of hearing range and then muttered a ton of curse words. "I'll kill him," he finally snapped.

"Ig calm down. Killing Fang won't solve our problem," I said. I grabbed his hand and gave it a small squeeze. He looked down at me and gave the faintest glimpse of a smile. After a few deep breaths, Iggy calmed down enough to a point where he could go near Angel and Gazzy without scaring them. We sat and watched as they played on the jungle gym, oblivious to anything else in the world. It reminded me of a time when Iggy, Fang and I were like that. We would play on this jungle gym for hours, making up stories of how it was a castle and we had to reach the tower before the evil sorcerer destroyed it along with the whole village. Things seemed much easier back then, I really missed those times.

An hour later Iggy got a call from his mom saying he could bring Gazzy and Angel home. They whined and complained the whole walk to the car and most of the ride home. Iggy finally got fed up with it and yelled, "The next person to make a peep walks the rest of the way home!" The ride was strangely silent the rest of the way. Iggy parked in his garage and we all climbed out of the truck. Angel decided she wanted to play with chalk so she got her big box of broken pieces of chalk and she sat down in the driveway coloring. Gazzy went inside and ran straight up to his room.

"How was the park, kids?" Iggy's mom asked from the kitchen. Iggy's mom was one of the sweetest kindest people on the planet. She always took time for each of her three kids and even offered to talk to me when I was having a problem. If Vicky was my second mom, then Robin Griffith was my favorite aunt. She always smelled of vanilla and never went anywhere without her little pocketbook of pictures. Inside there were pictures of Angel, Gazzy, and Iggy. There was even a picture of me and Fang with Iggy.

"Hi Mom," Iggy said happily. All traces of his former anger were gone and he looked at his mom with a huge smile on his face.

"Hi Robin. It's great to see you," I chimed in. Robin took one look at my crutches and her face turned into one of concern.

"Oh my dear, what happened to you Max?" Robin fussed. She gave me a gentle hug and looked at my ankle and wrist.

"I fell down my stairs last night, and ended up spraining my wrist and ankle," I explained. Robin smiled softly and patted me on the head.

"So what do you want to do?" Iggy asked. We had about another hour until it was time to make our pizza so there wasn't a lot we could do. We ended up in front of Iggy's computer watching some video messages Iggy had in his e-mail. Most of them were people making fools of themselves at various parties and one was of this little girl singing opera.

"Pizza time?" I asked Iggy when the singing kid video was over. He grinned and stood up from his computer. Making pizza was the only time Iggy let me cook alongside him. We used premade dough so we wouldn't have to waste all day making it. Even though Iggy and I were alike in a lot of ways, we were total opposites when it came to making pizza. Iggy preferred the more random pizza flavors. This week he was making Kiwi pizza which had onions, olives, ham and something called komara on top. Iggy explained that komara was basically thinly sliced sweet potato. I on the other hand, ate normal pizza like the rest of America. I put on pepperoni and a little bit of onion, but not nearly as much as Iggy.

We sat in his kitchen, waiting for our food to be done. While we sat there Iggy looked over at me and asked, "What are we going to do about Fang?"

"I don't know. He keeps pushing us farther and farther away. I want to stay friends with him, since we've all been through so much together but how can we if he won't even trust us?" I whispered. Fang meant a lot to me, we spent so much time together as kids but now it looked like those days were ending. And it was all thanks to Lissa. At that moment I almost did want to claw her face out. Because of her and her stupid control freak ways, we were losing Fang.

The timer went off for our pizza and Iggy pulled it out of the over and set it on top of the stove to cool. I rummaged through their junk drawer for the deck of cards and eventually found them in the very back. Iggy cut our pizza and we sat on the ground and played a wide variety of games. As usual, we lost track of time and I didn't even realize how late it was until my phone rang. "Hey Mom," I said as I laid down another card. We were in the middle of crazy eights, which isn't that much fun with two people but we still loved playing it.

"Are you still at Iggy's? You do realize your curfew is in ten minutes," my mom said over the phone. My eyes snapped up to the clock on the wall behind Iggy's head. It was going on ten thirty which meant I had to leave.

"OK, Mom. I'm on my way now. We got caught up in a game of crazy eights. I'll be home soon," I said. My mom said goodbye and I hung up the phone. "I've gotta go Ig, curfew in ten." I stood up and placed out empty popcorn bowl on the counter.

"All right, let's go." Iggy gathered all the cards and put them back in the drawer. "Mom, I'm taking Max home," Iggy called into the living room. Robin gave a small wave as we walked out of the kitchen and into the garage. I climbed into the truck and immediately turned on the radio. My favorite song was just starting and I squealed in joy.

Iggy looked at me like I had completely lost my mind. Maximum Batchelder doesn't squeal. It's just not heard of. "If you fall for me, I'm not easy to please. Imma tear you apart. Told you from the start, baby from the start," I sang. I glanced over at Iggy who was shaking his head in amazement. He saw me looking and held up his thumb and index finger like a gun and pretended to shoot himself in the head.

"I can't believe you like this trash," Iggy muttered. We liked most of the same music, but this was one song that Iggy couldn't stand. So naturally, whenever it was on I made sure to sing it at the top of my lungs, just to annoy him.

"It's not trash, Miley Cyrus is trash. And so is Justin Bieber," I responded. I shuddered at the thought of those two artists. Ella was obsessed with both of them and whenever our mom wasn't home, she would blast it through our entire house. Whenever a song by either of those two so called artists came on, I left the house.

"Can't argue with that. I'm dreading the day Angel starts listening to them. And we all know that day will come," Iggy said shuddering. We then began talking about music our siblings listened to and how much it annoyed us. We soon reached my house and Iggy climbed out of the truck and handed me my crutches.

"Thanks for the ride Ig," I said. "Hopefully I'll be able to drive soon. That way, you won't have to drive me everywhere."

"I don't mind at all," Iggy replied cheerfully. I smiled but just as I was about to turn around, Iggy grabbed my elbow and stopped me. "Max, we'll figure out what to do about Fang. Don't worry about it. Promise?" I nodded and wrapped one of my arms around Iggy. I let go and slowly made my way up my driveway and into my house.

When I opened the front door, I was surprised at how quiet it was. "Mom? Dad? Ella?" I called as I made my way though the house. It was dead silent but when I reached the kitchen I saw a note written in neat cursive.

"Max, I had to go back to the hospital for an emergency, Ella is spending the night with Nudge and your father is upstairs asleep. I expect you to be up tomorrow by eight thirty for school shopping. I'll see you in the morning. Love, Mom" I sighed and set the note back down on the counter. School shopping was the most boring thing in the entire world. I groaned and hobbled out of the living room. Too lazy to climb the stairs, I collapsed on the couch. Then I remembered I needed to take a shower.

I sat up and decided that it would be easier if I took a shower in our downstairs bathroom instead of trying to climb the stairs. Luckily, there was soap and towels in the linen closet. I took off my wrist and ankle braces, gasping when I saw how swollen they both were. Since I couldn't stand very easily on my hurt ankle, I had to sit on the floor of the shower stall. Once I was done, I managed to find some pajamas in the laundry bin. Too tired to bother drying my hair, I collapsed back on my couch and shut my eyes. But, even though I was exhausted, I couldn't seem to fall asleep. My argument with Fang kept playing over and over in my mind like a broken record. It broke my heart to think that Fang didn't believe me, but it was a problem I'd have to deal with another day.

True to her word, my mom woke me up at eight thirty the next morning to go to school shopping. Ella was already dressed and was sitting in the kitchen eating a bowl of cereal. "Max, get up. I got some cloths for you so you don't have to climb the stairs," my mom said loudly. She shook my shoulder until I finally groaned and sat up. "Good you're up. Get dressed; we have a long day ahead of us so let's get to it."

I looked down at what my mom had picked out for me to wear, shorts and a t-shirt. I felt lucky to have a mom who didn't force her daughter to wear frilly clothes. My mom was totally OK with my look. It didn't take me very long to get ready, as usual. So we were on the road by eight forty five. We drove into LA and stopped at our favorite row of stores. It had all of Ella's favorite stores like Aero and Wet Seal and it also had some of my favorite places. Such as a bookstore and a small coffee shop. Clothes and fashion were Ella's thing, not mine.

"Mom, I'm totally freaking out here. I have to find the perfect first day of school outfit. If not, then I'll be marked as an unfashionable freak. Just like Max," Ella panicked. I turned around in my seat and smacked her in the head.

"I am not an unfashionable freak. Comfortable can be used as a style. I dress so that I don't have to worry about making sure my cloths match or dealing with painful shoes. Besides Ells, once everyone figures out you're my sister, they'll mark you anyways. I have quite the reputation at the high school," I said with a smirk. My reputation was quite infamous really. Everyone knew me as the girl who will be your best friend, as long as you don't get on her bad side. And if you got on her bad side, well, you had very little hope of surviving until graduation.

"Max, don't torture your sister. Ella, don't insult Max," my mom repeated. She says that at least ten times a day. I love Ella, I really do, but it's just so much fun to tease her. We climbed out of the car and Ella almost took off running towards Aero. "Ella, stay with Max. Max, take Ella where she needs to go. I'm going to go get the stuff on the list your school sent out. Meet me at the coffee shop in two hours," my mom called before Ella got out of hearing range.

I followed Ella into Aero and sat in a chair while she tried on several dozen various pants, shirts, skirts and dresses. Every time she tried on a new outfit she asked me what I thought. All of my answers were the same, "It looks fine." She decided that it would be better to take pictures of every outfit and send them to Nudge so she could decide what the best 'first day of freshman year' outfit was. We were in that wretched store for an hour and a half before Ella finally made her choice. It happened to be the very first thing she tried on.

"You know," she said as we walked out of the store. "I saw this outfit and I instantly knew that it was the one." I stopped dead in my tracks and stared at her.

"Then why did we spend all that time in there?" I seethed. Ella shrugged and skipped down the row of stores. As we passed the bookstore I glanced in the window to see if there were any new books. That's when I saw him. Standing behind the counter, one of the most attractive boys I had ever seen in my life. He had dark blond hair and was pretty muscular. I saw from the window that he had the most beautiful turquoise eyes in the entire world. It was like looking into the Caribbean. "Ella wait up, I need to go inside the book store!" I called. Ella stopped and came up beside me.

"ZOMG, he's gorgeous!" Ella squealed. I nodded in agreement and opened the door to the bookstore. Ella slipped in behind me and made her way over to the mystery section. I figured it would be pretty weird to go up to the counter without buying a book so I searched around the new releases and actually saw the title of a book I had been wanting to read. Unfortunately, it was to high up for me to reach while holding onto my crutches.

"Do you need some help?" a deep voice asked me. I turned around to see the guy standing right behind me. I took a deep breath and nodded.

"I can't reach the copy of _I, Alex Cross_," I said. I pointed to the copy of the James Patterson book and the boy grabbed it for me.

"Is that all you need?" he asked.

"Yeah that'll be all," I responded. We walked over to the counter and he scanned my book. "I've never seen you here before. Are you new?" I asked as casually as possible.

"Yep, I just moved into the Maywood area with my parents a few weeks ago. This is my second day here," he replied.

"You live in Maywood? So do I." I smiled sweetly as he handed me my book.

"Really? That's awesome. I'm going to be a senior at Huntington Park." My jaw dropped at the sound of that.

"Same here. I'm Max by the way. Max Batchelder," I said. I stuck out my hand and the new boy shook it firmly.

"Dylan. Dylan Hans. Well I have to get back to work now, but I'' see you at school tomorrow. It was really nice meeting you Max," Dylan said with a kind smile. I waved and slowly made my way out of the store.

"Ella, come on. We have to go meet Mom," I called. Ella emerged from behind one of the many shelves and grinned.

"Sounds good," she chimed. We walked out of the store and once the door was closed Ella began pounding me with questions. "ZOMG! What was his name? How old was he? Did you get his number?" I held up my hand to shut her up.

"His name is Dylan, he's going to be a senior at our school and no I didn't get his number," I said. "I just met him, why would he give me his number?"

"I don't know. Maybe he's looking for a girlfriend and he met you and I'm guessing you both love books so maybe he decided that he wanted to go out with you on the spot."

"You're delusional," I said laughing. We reached the coffee shop and saw our mom sitting in the back at our favorite table. The owner was a friend of my mom's so we didn't even have to order. When she saw us come in, she got our drinks and brought them to us right away.

"Did you girls have fun?" my mom asked as we sat down. She already had her drink in hand, a white chocolate mocha with a caramel twist.

"Yeah, I got the cutest outfit ever. You're going to love it mom. And it's going to look so great with the shoes I got last spring for the end of the year dance. I can't wait! Oh and Max met a really cute boy," Ella said rapidly. My mom looked over at me with surprise. I wasn't much for talking to random people so I guess this was out of character for me.

"Well we were in the book shop and I started talking to this guy that works there. He's new and he's going to be a senior at HP," I explained. My mom nodded and took another sip of our drinks. The owner then brought Ella and me our drinks. I had a Java chip frappuccino and Ella got a strawberry smoothie.

The three of us sat in the coffee shop for about thirty minutes then decided that we needed to keep shopping. I needed some new shorts, since my mom accidently spilled bleach on my favorite basketball shorts last week. "Mom, we can just get them at the sports shop or something," I said. I wasn't in the mood to go back to the mall since that was where a lot of problems with me and Fang started this past weekend.

"All right, we can get them at Niky's then. Then, since I got all of your supplies and Ella got her outfit then I think this year we're done early. You girls want to go home now?" I nodded quickly. My ankle was starting to hurt and I just wanted to go home and sit on my couch.

We waved goodbye to the shop owner and walked out to our car. As I got in the front seat I spotted Dylan getting into a car not very far away from where we were parked. He looked up, saw me and gave a small wave. I waved back and smiled. Ella noticed and grinned at me. "I think Max is in love," she said. She made a kissy face and then began laughing her head off.

"Ella, that's enough," my mom said as she got in the front seat. I turned to face Ella and gave her my 'you're so dead' look. I think she got the message because she sat back in her seat and didn't say a word the entire ride home. When we got home I got on the computer and started IMing my friends that I would see tomorrow. It was going to be an interesting day, and as long as Ella didn't get in my way I think it was going to be an OK first day back to school.


	6. Back to school

Me: A note to new and current readers. Some of you have been asking me when the Miggy will come and trust me it will come. I ask that all of you be patient with me and you will all get your Miggy! YAY Miggy! Just please note that all throughout there are little tiny bits and pieces of Miggy fluff, so hopefully that'll keep you all entertained until the big Miggy scene.

Iggy: Don't I get a say in this?

Me: Nope. All you get to do is stand there and look hot while fan girls scream your name at the top of their lungs. Oh and I seem to have forgotten a disclaimer in all of my previous chapters. Please forgive me, I am new at this. Iggy, say the disclaimer.

Iggy: Fine. If I do will you let me go? *death glares Iggy* didn't think so. Ok so Water Wolf 100 doesn't own anything involving Maximum Ride. And any resemblance of character to persons living or dead is purely coincidence.

Chapter 6: Back to school

My alarm clock snapped me out of a really nice dream the next morning. Actually it did more than snap me out of it, I was so startled I fell out of bed and landed on the floor with a thud. "Ouch," I groaned. This was not how I wanted to start my morning. I reached to the end table above me and felt around for my alarm clock. Once I found the evil little machine I turned it off and fell back on my floor.

"Max! Get up! If you don't hurry we're going to be late for school," Ella screamed from the other side of my door. She poked her head in my room and snickered when she saw me sitting on the floor. "So that's what that thud was," she said in between giggles. I picked up my pillow from the top of my bed and chucked it at her head. Ella squeaked and slammed the door shut just as the pillow hit it. "You have fifteen minutes," Ella called before I heard her skip down the hall.

Why did I have to be cursed with a morning person for a little sister? I picked myself up off the floor and was surprised when I found I could actually put weight on my hurt ankle. It was still pretty sore and I wouldn't be able to move very fast but at least I could sort of walk on it. That was good enough for me. I dug through my closet until I found favorite shorts and t-shirt. The shirt was dark purple and read 'You wanna mess with me? I didn't think so'. I thought it would be the perfect shirt to wear on the first day of school, it would teach the freshmen to stay out of my way. I pulled my hair up into it's usually ponytail and walked down to the bathroom.

Ella was in there, curling her hair. I shoved her out of the way and started brushing my teeth. Ella grumbled about hating having to share a bathroom and I shot her a death glare. I was in a bad mood that morning and I didn't need to listen to my little sister complaining. "We're leaving in five minutes," I stated as soon as I was done getting ready.

"What? Five minutes? But I'm not ready! I don't think I can do this; maybe I should have Mom call me in sick today. I mean how much could I miss on the first day?" Ella cried. I sighed and patted her on the top of her head.

"Look, I know you're nervous but you're going to be fine. The first day really isn't that bad. I've already told you what teachers to watch out for and places you shouldn't go so there's nothing to worry about. If you need help, come find me. OK? Now, five minutes you better be downstairs ready to go or else you're taking the bus," I said. Ella nodded and continued curing her hair. I walked down the stairs, grateful I didn't need to deal with the crutches and headed straight into the kitchen. Most kids in high school skipped breakfast but I made sure to eat something every morning. If I was hungry, I tended to get grouchy and the last thing I needed was explaining to my parents how I got detention for yelling at some poor teacher.

"I'm ready to go Max," Ella said happily. It was like all the fear and anxiety she had a few minutes ago vanished. I grabbed an apple and a granola bar and followed Ella out the door. I backed out of the driveway with ease, happy to behind the wheel of my beloved car again. I made it to the school in record time and found a really great parking spot in the senior lot. I was already enjoying the perks of being a senior. "There's Iggy," Ella called out. I turned to see Iggy walking away from his truck. He spotted us and waved. I waved back but then my face fell. Close behind him was Fang. I hadn't talked to him since the incident in the park and I wasn't planning on talking to him any time soon.

Iggy noticed my expression and turned slightly to see Fang behind him. I thought it was going to get ugly but Iggy ignored Fang and walked towards me and Ella. "Good morning ladies. Ready for a fun filled day at the beautiful HP?" I groaned at his peppiness. Why did everyone I know have to be a morning person? Then I realized that there was only one other non morning person I knew, and I wasn't talking to him at the moment.

"I'm actually really nervous," Ella admitted. "I've heard some of the stories about how horrible upperclassmen are to freshmen here. Especially on the first day."

"Well, do what I did," Iggy said walking next to Ella. "Hang out with a lot of people. And if things get crazy, hide in the bathroom."

"Or, you could just tell them Max is your older sister," I added. "Iggy, you better stop giving my sister bad ideas about how to survive in high school. Your hide in the bathroom idea didn't even work. The seniors followed you in there, remember? They ended up pouring grape juice on your head." Iggy put his face in his hand and shuddered.

"I haven't been able to drink grape juice since," he cried. We reached the front door to the building and were greeted by a swarm of students, all trying to get on with their mornings. Freshmen were running around like little mice looking for their classrooms and reading sheets up paper with their locker combinations on them. Sophomores were standing in the halls pretending to be cool, since they weren't freshmen anymore. The juniors ignored everybody around them except for their friends, since they were practically untouchable when it came to the school hierarchy. Then there were the seniors, they stormed the halls, some of them shoving little wide eyes freshmen out of the way, while others sat in the quad watching as everyone milled around. Ella spotted Nudge and some of her other friends and gave a small wave to me and Iggy and darted off towards them. It was as if every second she spent away from someone she was at risk of being tortured by an upperclassman.

Iggy and I made our way to our lockers and shoved all our stuff in them. Iggy reluctantly took off his baseball cap and set it on the small shelf. School was the only time Iggy didn't wear his hat, since he didn't want it confiscated. "So, do you know where JJ and Sam are meeting us?" Iggy asked.

"In front of the library, though think JJ is going to be a little late. She told me last night she had to drop off her niece at daycare before she came here since her sister had to be at work super early. Sam should be there though, let's go find out." Sam and JJ were our other two best friends. JJ was incredibly sporty, she was in at least two sports a season and on top of that she helped take care of her sister's three year old daughter. I had total respect for her when it came to multi-tasking. Sam on the other hand, was the nerd of the group. If it involved a circuit board, Sam knew everything there was to know about it and then some. When we were in the eighth grade, he built a computer and ended up winning first place in the science fair for it. I always thought it was funny how such different people could be friends. We had the sporty girl, the nerd, Iggy the nice guy, me the tough one, and there Fang was the music guy but I didn't see him spending much time with us this year.

"Max! Iggy! What's up guys?" Sam called. I had hardly seen Sam all summer but I wasn't surprised to see that he hadn't changed a bit. His chestnut hair still fell in his eyes, hiding his tortoiseshell eyes. He was a little taller than me, about five foot seven and as usual, he wore a plain t-shirt, shorts, and flip flops. The standard California summer look for guys.

"It's really great to see you guys," Sam said happily as we reached him. He gave me a quick hug and pounded fists with Iggy. "Where's Fang? I thought he'd be with you two?"

"He's probably with Lissa and her gang of cheerleaders," I muttered. Sam's eyes grew sad but instantly perked up again. "Well, I'll bet we'll see him in class." There was nothing on earth that could bring Sam down.

"So, JJ here yet?" Iggy asked as he looked at all the students. Sam shook his head and picked up his backpack. "Is that Tess?" Iggy asked suddenly. I turned my head to see what Iggy sounded so surprised about. Tess was a grade below us but she had been pretty cool last year. I spotted her and my jaw dropped. Tess had done an appearance 180. Her formerly frizzy curly black hair was now long, straight and smooth. She had her braces taken off and she wasn't wearing her glasses. On top of that, she had on some outfit that showed more skin then fabric.

"What happened to her?" I asked. Tess used to be really down to earth, but now she looked like one of the school's many preps. Guys were already fawning over her and it made me sick to my stomach. I turned away and didn't bother looking back at her.

"Hey guys! Sorry I'm late!" I heard JJ call out over the noise of the halls. I instantly spotter her, she wasn't hard to miss. JJ matched Iggy in height. At almost six foot she was one of the tallest girls in out class. Her red hair was pulled back into a ponytail and a cloth headband held her bangs in place. She had on her usual attire, running shorts, a t-shirt from some sport she played, a warm up jacket and tennis shoes.

"JJ!" I called happily. I gave her a hug and my smile wouldn't go away. JJ was my best girlfriend, besides Ella, and the two of us spent a lot of time together during the school day. We always seemed to have very similar schedules. Iggy and Sam both gave JJ a hug, and now that out little group was complete we began walking down the hall talking about our summers. Iggy and I smartly left out the fight between me and Fang. JJ gasped when I told her about my injuries and told me that she gets mild sprains all the time and that they heal completely within a few weeks. Sam told us about some new computer he was helping to build.

We carried on like that until the first bell rang. I glanced down at my schedule and saw that I had math first. My least favorite class of all time. "Where are you off to?" Iggy asked when Sam and JJ broke off from us.

"Trig with Miller," I hissed. Everyone in the school knew that Mr. Miller and I couldn't stand each other. I don't even know why, but the man had it out for me. My mom didn't believe me naturally, but it was obvious.

"Same here," Iggy said happily. I let out a breath of relief. At least I had a friend in my class so it wouldn't be an hour of pure torture, just mild torture. We climbed the stairs to out math room with a few minutes before the final bell. Mr. Miller wouldn't accept tardiness, even on the first day. So we wanted to be sure to be extra early.

"Well, this is a surprise. Maximum Batchelder arriving on time to my class, I clearly must still be dreaming," Mr. Miller said with a smirk as we walked into the room. I forced a smile on my face and sat down in the back of the room. Iggy sat down next to me and we began talking about our classes, comparing schedules and figuring out who had the better day ahead of them. Students began filling up the room and the noise level grew from silent to loud in a matter of minutes.

Luckily everyone ignored us. That is until I became aware that someone was standing in front of my desk. I glanced up and found myself staring into a pair of Caribbean blue eyes. "Hi Max. Small world isn't it? Us having the same first period and all," Dylan said happily.

"Hey Dylan" I said with a small wave. "Oh, Dylan, this is my best friend Iggy Griffith. Ig, this is Dylan. I met him at the book store yesterday. He's new here this year." Iggy looked at Dylan and gave one of his normal friendly smiles. He pounded fists with him and Dylan sat down in the desk next to me. At the front of the room Mr. Miller cleared his throat and began wiping his glasses with a cleaning cloth.

"Welcome to Trig. I'm Mr. Miller for those of you who don't know me. Before we begin I want to go over a few ground rules with all of you so we have a nice easy year," Miller droned on. I stopped paying attention after the word trig. A piece of paper landed on my desk and I slipped it under my desk before opening it. I was expecting it to be Iggy's usual chicken scratch but instead it was nice neatly printed letters.

"Max, I'm happy we get to have a class together. It really helps to know that I know at least one person here on my first day. Do you think I could sit with you and your friends at lunch? Dylan" I pulled out a pen and quickly wrote my response, folded the piece of paper and handed it back to Dylan.

He opened it and looked over at me. I turned slightly to face him and grinned. "Maximum Batchelder," Mr. Miller's voice called out from the front of the classroom. I snapped my head forward and looked at him. He was doing roll call so I raised my hand slightly. Mr. Miller shook his head and continued down the list.

After math, I had physics with Sam and JJ. The three of us formed a lab group and we got to spend the hour pushing little carts across the long wooden lab tables. I didn't mind science, the calculations sometimes got to me but the principles we learned and stuff were cool. When the bell rang I walked with JJ and Sam towards the cafeteria. I spotted Iggy in line when we got there, he was with Dylan. I guess they had a class together.

We got our food and sat down at our usual table in the back corner of the lunchroom. Dylan talked to JJ and Sam about where he used to live, Iggy stuffed his face with some sort of food substance and I looked at the people in the lunchroom. On the other side of the room, I saw Ella and Nudge. They both looked pretty happy so I guess they were having an ok day so far. Then, I saw Fang. He was coming from the lunch line, Lissa gripping his arm. They made their way to the center of the room bur before Fang sat down he looked over at us and gave the tiniest hint of a smile.

"Who's that guy?" Dylan asked. He was looking over at Fang.

"Fang, he's an old friend of ours but he won't be joining us for lunch anytime soon. He sits with his girlfriend and her cheerleading friends," Iggy explained. Dylan shot one last glance at Fang before returning to his conversation.

Lunch ended quickly and JJ, Dylan and I headed off to our next class. I wasn't too happy about having gym right after lunch, but having JJ in my class made it a lot easier. We spent the hour lifting weights and talking about our summers some more. JJ told me how she had been accepted into a special summer training camp for soccer and she had spent two weeks in San Jose playing soccer with some of the best athletes on the west coast.

Our time on the weights ended and we went over to the bikes. As we sat there, I watched Dylan lifting weights with some of the other guys. He was pretty strong, it was hard to tell before since he had on a light jacket over his t-shirt but now he had on an old t-shirt with the sleeves ripped off and you could see every one of his muscles. "Max? Max!" JJ shouted. She snapped her fingers in my face and I was brought out of my trance. "Some one's got a crush," she sang in a sing song voice. I reached over and smacked her in the arm.

"I do not. I just met him yesterday, give me a break," I snapped back. JJ rolled her eyes but didn't say anything else. The teacher blew his whistle and we all headed into the locker room. I had one more class and then I was home free. I glanced down at my schedule and groaned. I had to end my day with Spanish. Everyone always told me I was really good at Spanish but I didn't agree with any of them. I constantly had to look things up in the dictionary and I never did well on any of the vocabulary quizzes. I knew that I wouldn't be in class with Iggy, Sam or JJ since none of them took a foreign language, lucky ducks. My mom forced me to take it since we lived in California she figured it would be practical.

I reached the classroom with a few minutes to spare so I decided to roam the hall until the one minute bell rang. As I passed the girl's bathroom I heard the sound of someone crying. Me, being the nice person I am, decided to go check to make sure that person was ok. I opened the door and I was surprised to see Nudge sitting on the floor, crying her eyes out. "Nudge? What's wrong?" I asked. I sat on the ground next to her and she looked at me with teary eyes.

"Lissa," she whispered. "She-she threatened me. She said that if I bother her and Fang again she'll make my life a nightmare. All I did was say hi to my brother." Nudge put her face in her hands and began sobbing all over again. I clenched my hands and resisted the urge to punch the wall.

"That evil witch. Don't worry Nudge, no one will mess if you as long as I have anything to do about it. Come on, I'm going to walk you to your next class," I said. I pulled her to her feet but before we walked out of the bathroom I grabbed some paper towels so she could dry her tears. It turned out her classroom was right next to mine, so I made sure she got inside then darted into my classroom before the bell rang.

I barely paid attention all throughout Spanish; every fiber in my body was focused on ripping Lissa's head off her shoulders. I made the decision to talk to Fang about what happened after school, I hoped he would be on my side for this. At long last, the bell rang and I flew out of the classroom and found Nudge standing outside her door. "Come on, I'll give you a ride home," I said. Nudge smiled and followed me closely as I weaved through the groups of kids.

"Hey Max, wait up!" someone called. I turned and saw Iggy and Sam making their way towards us. "Oh hey Nudge," Iggy said when they finally reached us. Nudge gave a small wave but didn't say anything.

"Well, I've got to get going now. My mom needs my help rearranging furniture in her office. I'll see you guys tomorrow," Sam said. He waved goodbye to us and vanished into the mass of students. Iggy, Nudge and I walked towards my locker and I shoved a few textbooks in my bag before slamming it shut.

Iggy looked at me with surprise. "Anger issues much?" he asked. I glanced down at Nudge and shook my head. I didn't want to bring up the earlier incident. I caught sight of Ella and waved her over to us. "Well, I've gotta jet. I'll see you guys later," Iggy said with a wave as he walked in the opposite direction.

"You two ready to go?" I asked. Ella and Nudge nodded and the three of us made our way out of the school and we all piled into my car. Nudge didn't say a single word the entire ride home and when we pulled into our driveway she muttered a thanks and a goodbye and jumped out of the car.

"What's wrong with her?" Ella asked as I locked my car door. I wasn't sure if I was going to tell Ella what happened. That was something for Nudge to tell her.

"You're going to have to ask Nudge," I said with a shrug. Ella sighed softly, handed me her bag and ran over to Nudge's house. I shook my head and walked into our house. My mom had the day off so I found her sitting in front of the computer, writing an e-mail. She looked up and smiled when she saw me.

"Hi sweetheart. How was your first day as a senior?" she asked

"It was ok I guess. So far I have a friend in every class but one. Miller didn't chew me out today so I guess that was a plus. Ella is over at Nudge's house by the way," I said as I dug out some juice from our fridge. I sat down and thought about what had happened between Nudge and Lissa. I wondered if Fang knew his girlfriend was threatening his little sister.

I glanced outside and I saw Fang sitting in a lawn chair by his pool. Mustering up as much courage as I could, I opened the door and crossed my backyard and stood by the fence that separated our yards. "Fang," I called. He glanced over at me, surprised. "We need to talk, now." I used my no nonsense voice and Fang got the message. He stood up and walked over to the fence.

"Yeah?" he muttered. I knew from the beginning that this was going to be an awkward conversation so I took a deep breath and stared at Fang.

"Have you talked to your sister yet?" I asked.

Fang looked at me, puzzled. "No, she's up in her room with Ella. Why?"

"Well, right before last period, I read someone crying in the bathroom. I went in and found Nudge bawling her eyes out. Apparently, your girlfriend threatened her. Something about her leaving you two lovebirds alone or else Lissa would ruin her life. Just thought you should know," I snapped. Fang's eyes grew wide and he stared at me in disbelief.

"You're insane," he finally muttered. I just about passed out. He still didn't believe me! "Why would Lissa threaten Nudge? The two of them just went shopping on Thursday, they had a great time. I can't believe you'd drag my little sister into this."

It took all my power to not slug the idiot in the face. Lissa had him totally brainwashed. With every passing moment, I was losing him. "I don't believe you're doing this. Go talk to your sister, she'll tell you the same thing I just did. Lissa is the pulling you away from all your old friends and you're letting her! Up until now I was ok with her but now, she's gone too far. That girl is the spawn of Satan," I hissed at Fang.

Fang's hand shot over the fence and grabbed my wrist. "Don't ever talk about Lissa like that. Just stay away from her and away from me as well. We're done Max; I don't want to deal with you and your accusations anymore," Fang whispered. With each word, his grip tightened on my wrist until I thought it was going to snap. He let go and stormed back into his house. I stood there for a moment, unable to even move. I had lost him; Fang had just ended our friendship. Too shell shocked to face my family, I forced my legs to move and went to the farthest corner of our yard where a large tree stood.

Deep within the tree's branches stood an old tree house that my dad built for me and Ella when we were little. I had spent countless hours in it with Fang and Iggy. There were so many amazing memories that went with it. I climbed the planks of wood that led up to the tree house and pushed the trap door open. A few birds flew out the window when I opened the door, but I didn't pay much attention to them. Inside, everything was covered with an inch of dust. All of our old toys lay in little piles on the floor. In the center there was a tiny table with three chairs sitting around it. That had been our meeting table when we formed the 'super secret friend club'.

I smiled as I picked up some of the old dolls and action figures that lay on top of the table. How had things turned so horribly recently? The happy days we used to have seemed to be eons away, and now all that was there were days of fighting and sadness.

While I thought about the old days, I felt tears well up in my eyes. I watched as the fell off the tip of my nose and landed on the table. I sank to the floor and waited for the tears to end, but they never did. I thought I heard someone call my name from the deck but I didn't answer, I wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone.

I didn't even realize how late it was until I looked out the window and saw that the sun was setting. I glanced down at my watch and saw that it was almost eight o'clock. I would have still been crying, but I had run out of tears a long time ago. Now I just sat there, sniffling. "Max? Are you up there?" someone called. "Mom's been looking everywhere for you." It was Ella.

"Get lost Ella. I'm not in the mood," I snapped back. She would try to get me to tell her what happened and I didn't want to tell her. I heard Ella talk to someone on the phone but I didn't know who. Ella didn't say anything else to me; instead I listened as she walked back into our house. I sat back against the table of the tree house and let my mind wander, back to happier times.

Iggy's POV

I paced back and forth in my room. I had gotten a text from Ella asking if I knew where Max was but I hadn't talked to her since school ended. That meant no one knew where she was and that freaked me out.

My mom had told me to relax; that Max was probably had gone to the library or something. But I knew Max better than that, she wouldn't have gone alone. Max hated studying alone and she always calls me and asks me to study with her. No, something in my gut told me something was wrong. Max seemed pretty peeved at the end of the day, something about Nudge. Which made me assume that it involved Fang in some way. "James, dinners ready," my mom called from the kitchen. I defiantly wasn't hungry, but I forced myself to go downstairs and shove a few mouthfuls of food into my mouth to please my mom. "James, don't worry about Max. I'm sure her parents will know what to do if they don't hear from her soon," my mom soothed.

"Max is missing?" Angel asked. She stared at me, her fork halfway to her mouth. I put on my 'everything is all right face' and shook my head.

"You know Max, Ange. She likes to go places without telling people. She's a tough girl, she can take care of herself," I said with a smile. My mom nodded in agreement. If only I believed my own words. I finished eating and excused myself from the table.

Just as I reached my room, my phone rang. I felt my heart skip a beat, thinking it was Max but I saw that it was Ella. "Ella? What's up?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm.

"I found her. She's up in the old tree house but she won't come down. I have no idea why she's up there but she won't talk to me. She listens to you Iggy. Can you talk to her?" Ella asked. I let out a breath of relief. Max was safe, I could relax.

"I'll be right over," I said. I shoved my phone in my pocket and grabbed my keys from my dresser. "Mom, they found Max. I'm going to go talk to her," I yelled as I walked out the door. I think I set a new record for getting to Max's house. Ella saw me from the window and ran out to meet me.

"She's still up there. I talked to Nudge; she said something about a fight between Max and Fang. I'll bet that's what this is all about," Ella said in a small voice. "My parents said that if you don't get her to come down let them know and they'll make her come down."

I nodded and walked into their backyard. Looking up at the old tree house, it was almost impossible to tell anyone was up there. I guess that's why no one was able to find her. Taking a deep breath, I began to climb the ladder, not sure what to expect.

Max's POV

I sat there, in my trance like state. It was like a montage of happy memories was playing in my head, all involving happier days with me and Fang. Us playing in the pool, coloring together and riding out bikes through the neighborhood; but all of those days were gone.

"Max? Everyone's been looking for you," a quiet voice said beside me. Whoever they were, they might as well have been a thousand miles away from me. I felt something touch my shoulder gently, and then I was enveloped into a giant hug. Somehow, that brought me out of my trance. Only one person could give me a hug like that.

"I've lost him," I whispered. Iggy didn't say anything, he only pulled me closer. Iggy's presence brought along another new wave of tears and I felt them slide down my face. I wasn't sure how long we sat there, Iggy with his arms wrapped around me or me crying but it felt like a long time.

Once again, my eyes ran dry of tears and I pulled myself away from Iggy. He looked down at me, with an understanding expression on his face. "Ella told me you two had another fight," he said softly.

"He said that it was over between us. He doesn't want to be friends anymore. Earlier today, Lissa threatened Nudge and when I told Fang about it he didn't believe me. He chose Lissa's side again. Then he said that it was over. I just don't know how it came to this," I said softly. Iggy gave me another long hug then stood up.

"Come on, your family is worried about you," he said. Iggy lifted me to my feet and guided me to the trapdoor of the tree house. I managed to climb down the ladder but when my feet the soft grass, my legs felt like they were made of jelly. Iggy jumped down to the grass and wrapped his arm around my waist and led me to the house. Ella opened the door and Iggy led me in and let me sit down on the couch.

"Thank you so much Iggy," Ella said with a tiny smile. She ran upstairs to tell my parents that I as out of the tree house but I didn't pay too much attention.

"I have to get home Max. But if you need me, just call. All right?" I looked up at him and nodded. He bent down and gave me the slightest, quickest kiss on the top of my head and walked out of my house. It made me feel a little better to know that I still had at least one friend that I could always rely on, but only a little.

My mom then come downstairs and gave me a warm hug. She didn't say anything to me, because she didn't need to. We just sat there in the living room for a little while. I suddenly felt very tired, and the only thing I wanted to do was go to bed and make this horrible day end. I climbed the stairs and slowly made my way to my room. The clock on my wall read nine thirty. I had been up in the tree house for almost five hours. I threw on some shorts and an old t-shirt and climbed under my covers. It took seconds for me to fall into a restless sleep. This had without a doubt been the worst day of my life.


	7. A date!

**Me: Yay a new chapter! I wanted to thank all of you for following me on my very first published multi-chapter story. This is for all of you!**

**Iggy: Do I have to do another disclaimer? **

**Me: Yep. And if you don't-well I won't let you go back to the Flock **

**Iggy: I hate you. But fine- Water Wolf 100 doesn't own any of James Patterson's characters. She does own the plot though. And- someone please save me! This lunatic is keeping me here against her will! She makes me do stuff like take care of her plot bunny, Skip! Help me please! Find Max, tell here where I am! He- *muffles***

**Me: I have no idea what he's talking about. He must have breathed fumes from his bombs too much. So anyway-enjoy the chapter **** *sneaks away with roll of duct tape in hand***

Chapter 7: A date?

The next morning, I woke up to the sunlight streaming into my room. I felt terrible but I forced myself to get up for school. That's when I saw the clock. It was ten thirty! A small post-it note sat on my end table and I saw Ella's familiar scribble. 'Max, Mom is letting you stay home today since you had such a rough night. She said that you aren't allowed to leave the house though. Have a good day off. Love Ella. PS Iggy gave me a ride to school so you don't have to worry about coming to get me.' I smiled and set the note back down on the table.

I checked my phone and saw that I had a dozen new texts from various people. One was from Nudge, thanking me for helping her. There was one from JJ and another from Sam, both asking what I was up to. I figured they sent them while I was up in the tree house. There were like four from Iggy, all asking me where I was and if I was all right. The remaining three were from this morning, one from each of my three best friends. They all said that they'd get my homework from the classes I'd miss that day.

With phone in hand, I walked down the stairs into our kitchen to track down some food for breakfast. There were no granola bars or waffles so I had no idea what to eat. I had to settle for cereal, since that's all there was and I had no ability to cook. As I sat there eating a large bowl of frosted flakes my phone vibrated.

It was a text from Iggy. I smiled and opened my phone. "Ur not missing much. Had a fire drill so we r standing in courtyard. Hav a good day off" he ended the text with a smiley face that was making a little winky face.

I grinned and sent a reply "sounds like fun. Such a shame im missing out. Thnx 4 bringing Ella 2 skool" I finished my breakfast and put my bowl in the dishwasher. Now I just had to find something to do for the rest of the day. I plopped down on the couch and turned on my TV. There wasn't a lot on, considering it was going on eleven on a weekday. I ended up watching some documentary on the History channel about Roswell.

Throughout the day I got texts from Iggy and JJ telling me how little I was missing at school and that made me feel good. Around lunchtime, I found some lunchmeat and cheese so I made a sandwich. After that I fell asleep for about forty five minutes and when I woke up I had another text on my phone from Iggy. "Dylan is wondering if he can come 2 ur house after skool. That ok?" I was mildly surprised by that, why would he want to come over here?

I quickly replied, "sure idc. C u when u get done w/ skool" This was going to be an interesting afternoon. I had about an hour before they all got out of school so I ran upstairs and took a fast shower and put on something that wasn't my pajamas.

While I was brushing my hair I got another text from Iggy saying, "On r way." I read the text and then continued to get ready. I had just finished brushing my teeth when I heard the screen door close.

"Honey, I'm home!" Iggy called from the bottom of the staircase. I rolled my eyes at his idiocy. Throwing my hairbrush back into my drawer I headed downstairs to find Dylan standing in the middle of the living room and Iggy rummaging through our fridge. "You know you have like nothing to eat right?" Iggy asked when he heard me come down the steps.

Ignoring him, I walked up to Dylan and said, "Hey what's up? Sorry for Iggy's behavior. He's been here so many times; he just does his own thing. Do you want anything to eat?"

"No thanks, my mom is making ribs tonight so I'm saving room," Dylan said. He patted his stomach and licked his lips. I giggled at the face he made and walked into our kitchen. Iggy was still searching for the non-existent food so I stood behind him and kicked him in the butt.

"Get your face out of my fridge," I said laughing. "Where's Ella?" Iggy spun around and pointed to Fang's house. I nodded and then pushed Iggy out of my kitchen. "So what do you guys want to do?" I asked. Iggy looked at me with an evil grin.

"What's with the face?" I asked mildly concerned. When Iggy grinned wickedly, it meant he had an idea that would probably end in a disaster. "Wait, does it involve doing something to Fang?" I asked quickly. Iggy stared at me, and his grin slowly vanished. "Thought so," I said smartly. "Dylan, you're the guest. What would you like to do?" Dylan looked between me and Iggy. "Oh he's not a guest, he's practically part of my family, he gets no vote."

Dylan thought for a moment then shrugged. "I don't know, want to just chill and listen to some music or something?"

"Sure, that sounds like a lot of fun," I said with a grin. "Come on, we can go get my CD's from my room." I motioned for the guys to follow me and I bounded up the stairs. When we reached my room, Iggy jumped over my bed and started rummaging through my CD rack on the floor.

"You like Lady Gaga?" Dylan asked as he eyed my Lady Gaga CD's. I had every single one she ever came out with, and I listened to them all constantly.

"Oh yeah, she's one of my favorite. Do you like her?" Dylan nodded and I grinned widely. Iggy gave up on looking through each individual CD and grabbed on random one from somewhere in the middle. I eyed it and saw that it was Insomniac by Green Day. I grabbed my boom box from my closet floor and we went back downstairs and went out to the deck.

The three of us spent the next hour sitting on the deck, laughing and talking and listening to the CD. It was the most fun I'd had all day. The CD came to an end and Iggy went inside to pick out another one. Dylan and I sat on the deck talking for a minute when he suddenly stopped talking. "Hey Max, um, have you heard about the Lady Gaga concert that's going to be at the Staples Center in two weeks?" he asked.

"Yeah, JJ said she got tickets and she's been looking for people to go with. She asked me to come but I haven't asked my mom yet."

"Oh, well I got tickets as well. My friend from my old town was supposed to come down here and go with me but he can't because he has to help his older sister move into her dorm that day. Would you be interested in going with me?" I stared at him for a moment, unsure of how to answer. One part of me really wanted to go with him, but another part of me was a little nervous.

"I'll ask my mom and let you know tomorrow. I'd really like to go, so hopefully I'll be able to," I said with a warm smile. At that moment, Iggy came back outside with another CD. This time it was a Bob Marley CD. We saw Ella walk out of Fang's house and come into our backyard.

"Hey Max, how was your day off?" she asked as she approached the three of us.

"Pretty sweet. I slept in until ten thirty, ate some cereal, watched TV and took a nap. It was a very productive day," I said with a grin. Ella gave me a thumbs up and walked past us and into the house.

"Well, I better get going. My mom will want me home in time for dinner. Thanks for having me over Max. And hopefully you're mom will say yes," Dylan said. He stood up and grabbed his keys from the table on our deck and walked around the side of our house to his car.

"Say yes to what?" Iggy asked once he was out of ear shot.

"He asked if I wanted to go to a concert at the Staples Center in two weeks. That Lady Gaga concert JJ was talking about. I'm not sure if I'll be able to go though." I saw the corners of Iggy's mouth turn down ever so slightly. "What?" I asked when I saw his smile vanish.

"Well, I don't really know. Dylan seems nice and everything, but there's something about him I just don't think I trust. Maybe it's just my imagination, but to me he seems like a-"

"Iggy, do you want to stay for dinner?" Ella asked from the doorway. "We're having pot roast."

"That sounds great. Yeah, I'll text my mom and let her know. Thanks Ells," Iggy said. He opened his phone and began typing away.

"What were you going to say Ig? What does Dylan seem like to you?" I asked.

Iggy looked up and me, his eyes nervous. "Nothing, it was nothing. Come on, we might as well go do something else now that Dylan is gone." Iggy stood up and didn't wait for me to respond. I sighed and gathered up my boom box and CDs. A half hour later dinner was ready but Iggy was unusually quiet. I took that opportunity to ask my mom about the concert since my dad had left that morning on business again.

"Mom, you know that concert in two weeks? The Lady Gaga one? Well, my friend Dylan asked me to come with him to it. Do you think I could go? JJ is going to be there too," I said. I knew mentioning JJ would be the deal breaker so I crossed my fingers and waited for her answer.

"Well, I'm not sure. I don't know this boy, is there going to be anyone else there that you will know?" she asked. My mom was all about large groups in places like concerts.

"I can ask JJ if she found anyone else to go with," I said hopefully.

"Well, if there's another person going that I know I don't see why you can't go. You're a senior in high school after all. I trust that if I let you you'll make good choices."

"Of course Mom. And I'll text JJ after dinner," I said smiling. We all finished eating and I found my phone in the living room. I sent a text JJ explaining how I might get to go to the concert. A few minutes later I got a response and I was thrilled to see that Sam was going along with her and so was her older sister.

"Well?" my mom asked coming up behind me. Iggy perked up, waiting to hear my answer.

"She got Sam to go and Amanda is coming as well," I replied happily.

"Amanda is twenty right? If she's going to be there I suppose you could go." I squealed and jumped up and hugged my mom. Once I settled down, Iggy and I went up to my room and did out homework. I still had to do some work from the first day of school and Iggy did the work he was assigned earlier today. When we were all done, Iggy went home and I went down to our living room and sat next to Ella on the couch. She was watching Bride Wars, her all time favorite movie, eating a bowl of popcorn. I reached over and stone a big handful and texted JJ some more about the concert.

It turned out it was going to be me, her, Dylan, Sam, Amanda and three of Amanda's friends from college. I adored Amanda; she was like an older sister to me. She was just as sporty as JJ was and twice as energetic. Around eleven thirty, I went upstairs and went to bed, excited to tell Dylan I could go with him.

The next morning I sprang out of bed, extremely wide awake. I got ready in record time and Ella and I got to school earlier than usual. I found Dylan in our math room and my smile tripled in size. "Guessing from that smile, I'm going to assume you have good news for me," he said sweetly.

"She said yes. I also talked to JJ and she said that she got Sam to go, along with her older sister and some of her friends. The four of us could probably all go in one car; it would be easier that way." Dylan smiled and nodded in agreement.

The next two weeks flew by in a blur. My days were divided between going to school, doing homework and hanging out with Iggy and Dylan. Even though I hadn't known Dylan for very long, he seemed to fill the void in my heart that Fang opened. I didn't see too much of Fang during the day. But on occasion I saw him in his pool, not that I said anything to him.

There had been no more issues between Nudge and Lissa either. According to Ella, Nudge barely talked to Fang. Apparently she was afraid to talk to him ever since the incident. The only thing that had been bothering me was the way Iggy was acting. Whenever we were around Dylan, he seemed to be on edge about something but when I asked him he had told me nothing was wrong.

After an antagonizing week, the day of the concert finally arrived. JJ and I talked about it the entire day and we had the entire evening planned. Dylan was going to come over to my house around dinner time and an hour before the concert JJ was going to bring Sam and pick us up. Then we would all drive to the concert, meet up with her sister and have the time of our lives.

"So Max, what are you going to wear?" Ella asked me as we drove home from school.

"Excuse me?" I asked. I never gave much thought to clothes and I wasn't expecting this night to be any different.

"You should wear something cool, since this is a date and all," Ella replied with a wicked grin. I gulped, Ella was going to force me into some horrible outfit and maybe even make me wear make-up. "Don't worry, I'll help you." Yep, she was going to make this a nightmare for me. We got home and Ella called Nudge and asked her to come over because there was a 'fashion emergency'.

"Ella, don't make this something I'm going to regret. Please," I begged. She beamed at me and pulled me into my room. Nudge arrived minutes later and the two of them began digging through my closet for an outfit.

"This is good, but I think it still needs something. But what?" Nudge asked. They had their back to me so I couldn't see what mess they had come up with. Nudge then snapped her fingers. "Gloves, it needs gloves. The mesh ones that I borrowed last week." Ella nodded and ran into her room to get the gloves.

"OK Max put this on and no questions or complaints. Understand?" Ella demanded. I nodded slowly and took the outfit into the bathroom to change. They had picked out a pretty simple outfit actually. A pair of black skinny jeans, even though it was going to be insanely hot in there. There were like three shirts I had to layer, a silver tank top that had a metallic star patter on it and under it there were two other tanks, a deep red one and a black one. Over the tank top there was a studded belt I had to put on and then the gloves that Ella was lending me.

I changed and walked back into my room. Both Ella and nudge squealed when they saw me. "I knew the gloves would pull it all together!" Nudge cried clapping her hands together. They then sat me down at my desk chair and began brushing my hair. Using two hair ties and I don't even know how many bobby pins; they had my hair pulled back into a messy bun with my bangs hanging down.

"Now it's time for make up," Ella said happily. My eyes grew wide and I stood up from the chair.

"No way! I'll do the hair and cloths, but make-up I don't do. I don't want to look like some Barbie doll," I cried. Nudge and Ella looked at each other and put their heads together, whispering.

"All right, what if we just put on some eye shadow and mascara? That's all. And it will just be a little bit," Ella pleaded. I sighed and sat back down. I knew that they would keep bothering me until I said yes. Ella pulled out a small case that had various colors of eye shadow in it.

In all it took three minutes to put it on so I figured it couldn't be too bad. When I opened my eyes, I saw that they had put a little bit of silver eye shadow along the bottom of my eyes and a touch of mascara on my top lashes. "Perfect. Now, if you two don't mind. I have a concert to go to," I said as I stood up.

"Wait, we need to take a picture. This may be the last time we ever see you in makeup!" Ella yelled. She ran to her room and brought back her digital camera. I smiled softly and Ella took a quick of picture. Just then, I heard the doorbell ring. I flashed a smile at Ella and Nudge and ran down the stairs. I opened the door Dylan stood there smiling.

"Wow, you look great," Dylan said when he saw me. I smiled and let him in the house. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt with a diamond pattern on it. Instead of his usual flip flops, he had on tennis shoes.

"Hi there Dylan," my mom said as she came out of the kitchen. She had seen Dylan almost every day since he asked me to the concert and she told me she thought he was very sweet. "Dinner's on the table. Are you hungry?"

"No thank you Mrs. Batchelder. My mom made me eat before I left. Thank you for the offer though," Dylan said with his usual sweet smile.

"I'm not going to eat either Mom," I said. "I had a huge lunch and I'm still pretty full. My mom shook her head and called Ella and nudge down for dinner. Dylan and I sat out on the front porch and waited for JJ and Sam to come.

"Hey Max, can I ask you something?" Dylan asked after a minute. I nodded absentmindedly. "What does your dad do for a living? He always seems to be traveling."

I looked at Dylan and laughed. I forgot that he was new to our group of friends so he didn't know what my dad got to do every week. "He's a consultant for an insurance company. He travels all over the state making deals between various companies. He's gone for about two weeks out of every month. It all depends on when the other companies are able to meet with him," I explained.

"Oh wow, I'm not sure if I'd like to do that job," Dylan replied. I nodded in agreement. Just then I saw JJ's Kia Rio pull into my driveway. I jumped up and ran over to JJ and gave her a hug as she climbed out of the driver's seat.

"Are you pumped?" she screeched. I nodded and gave her another hug.

"I just have to say bye to my mom, then we can get going," I said. I ran past Dylan through my front door. "Mom, JJ and Sam are here. We've got to get going now," I said.

"OK, have fun and tell JJ to drive carefully," my mom. She stood up and gave me a quick hug before returning to her spot at the table. I waved good-bye before going back to JJ's car. Dylan was already in the backseat behind Sam and I slid in next to him.

"Hey Sam," I said as I buckled my seat belt. Sam gave me a small wave but didn't turn away from his book. He had spent the past week reading some lame biography on the guy who made the first computer. JJ turned up the music and backed out of my driveway.

While Sam read, JJ, Dylan and I sang along to the songs that came on the radio. I was having such a fun time with them. The only thing that would have made this better was if Iggy had come with us. I had asked him if he wanted to come but he very clearly stated that he didn't like Lady Gaga and didn't want to go to the concert. The thing that confused me was that Iggy did in fact like Lady Gaga, so there had to be another reason for him not wanting to go.

We made it to LA in record time and headed straight for the parking garage next to the Staples Center. There was still another forty five minutes until the concert started but the place was already packed. JJ had to park on the ninth level of the garage since every single spot was filled taken. "Well, I'm going to guess there are a lot of people at this concert," Sam muttered as he looked at the passing cars.

"It's Lady Gaga dude. Of course there are going to be a lot of people," JJ said giving Sam a gentle push in the arm. We climbed out of the car and began the walk to the ticket booth of the center. By the time we got there, the line was halfway down the block so we stood, talked and waited until it was our turn. Dylan and I talked about what songs we wanted to hear and JJ tried to explain to Sam why the tour was called the Monster Ball.

Once we got inside the center, there were even more people. JJ and I grabbed hands and weaved through the crowds of people. The guys followed close behind and luckily we made it to our seats without losing anyone. JJ and I sat down while Sam and Dylan went to go get some snacks for later on. "This is so exciting!" JJ squealed. "I've been dying to see this show!" A few minutes later JJ spotted her sister and waved her over. I gave Amanda a hug and said hi to her three friends, Tiffany, Maddie and Beth. They guys got back with the food just as the lights began to dim.

For the next three hours we screamed, jumped and sang along to all of the songs. It was one of the most amazing things I had ever seen in my life. When the last song was announced, we decided that we would start leaving so that we could be first in line to buy t-shirts and other souvenirs. We weren't exactly first in line, but it beat waiting for an hour behind all the other people. JJ and I got t-shirts while Dylan bought the CD from the show. Sam, being the nerd he is, didn't get anything. "Ready to head back?" JJ asked as we walked away from the table.

"I am, it's going on eleven already," Sam said checking his watch.

"Sam, its Friday. It's not like we have to go to school tomorrow or anything," I said over my shoulder. We quickly walked through the parking garage, and I hoped we would see any of those freaky people that hung out there who tried to steal people's money and stuff. When we were a few rows away from JJ's car I spotted a shadow in the corner and a chill went up my spine. Dylan must have noticed because he moved closer to me and grabbed my hand.

Once we got into JJ's car I felt a lot better. It took us almost a half hour to get out of the garage because of the number of people walking through trying to reach their own cars. Dylan handed JJ his CD and we started listening to all the songs from the concert again. I stared out the window while we were sitting at a stoplight, I saw groups of people walking down the street and I figured they were all coming from the concert.

The light turned green and JJ started to pull forward, when I saw lights from the cross street coming straight towards us. "Look out!" I shrieked at the top of my lungs. Everyone all turned to see the car coming and we all screamed as the car collided into ours.


	8. Broken

Me: Ok so I'm sorry I tortured everyone with the cliffy in the last chapter. This was not a chapter that I particularly enjoyed writing, but it was crucial to the story. So please enjoy, oh and Iggy ran and hid so I have Angel here to do my disclaimer instead. Afterwards, she's going to help me find Iggy.

Angel: Water Wolf 100 sadly doesn't own any of us. James Patterson does, so she would like to thank him for creating these wonderful characters.

Me: Thanks Angel. Now let's go find Iggy. Oh and pretty please review! With sprinkles and chocolate chips on top! It would make me very happy if you all did. Thanks

Chapter 8: Broken

I sat in the back of the ambulance in a daze. My head was pounding and I kept hearing these voices, all of them trying to talk to me. "Please Max, tell us where you live," a slender lady asked me for the tenth time. I turned to face her; unsure of what was going on.

"621 Cedar Court Maywood California 90270," I mumbled. The lady typed it into a small laptop and repeated back a phone number. I recognized it as mine and I nodded.

"You're going to be OK sweetheart," the lady said. Her voice echoed in my ears and I felt very dizzy all of the sudden. I leaned back and found that there was a pillow behind me, I shut my eyes and listened to the sound of the whirling siren. When I opened my eyes again I was still in the ambulance but my head wasn't pounding as much.

"What happened?" I asked as I struggled to sit up. The same nurse smiled and pushed me back down onto the bed.

"You were in a car accident. We're taking you to the Good Samaritan hospital. Your family is going to meet us there," a second EMT said.

"Where are my friends?" I asked in a panic. The two EMT's exchanged glances before looking back at me.

"They're on route to the hospital as well. We'll give you more information when we find it out," the male EMT said. We then made a left hand turn as we reached the hospital. Since I was conscious and talking coherently, the nurse that came out brought a wheel chair instead of one of the gurney things. They wheeled me into the ER and a young female doctor greeted me as we went into the doors.

She asked me a bunch of questions about who I was, my family and what I remembered from the accident. The only thing that came to mind was seeing the car come and bracing myself for impact. The doctor then wrapped my gauze around my head because I was apparently bleeding. I didn't even feel any pain but the doctor explained they had given me some pain killer. There had been pieces of glass in my forehead and the EMTs had taken them out while we were in the ambulance.

"Where are my friends?" I asked again. That was the only thing I was worried about at that moment. If the doctor hadn't held me back I would have gotten up and searched for them myself.

"Your friend Dylan is in surgery right now, and Sam is out in the waiting room. He turned out the best of all of you. A few cuts from broken glass and some bruising around the ribs but other than that he's fine. Dylan got a pretty nasty gash in his leg from some metal and a doctor is working on taking it out right now. Otherwise he's fine," the doctor told me.

"What about JJ?" I asked. It was making me nervous that no one had said anything about her yet.

"She's being inspected right now. We'll let you know when they get the results back. Now, I'm going to take you back out to the waiting room. You're family should arrive shortly. She gave a little wave to the nurse and she pushed me out into a medium sized waiting area. There was a little play area for kids and a TV hung from the ceiling. It was showing some paid programming show about a fancy vacuum.

"Max! You're OK!" Sam cheered when he saw me. He had some bandages on his face and he was holding an ice pack to his ribs. The nurse stopped my wheelchair and helped me walk over to where he sitting. She helped me into the chair and then left again in a hurry.

"Have you heard about any of the others?" I asked. Sam shook his head.

"They wouldn't tell me anything. The EMT said that once they had all the information they would tell us," he said sadly.

"Same here. They told me that you were ok and that Dylan was in surgery but nothing about JJ. I'm really worried," I said. I felt the bandage against my forehead and shuddered. My ears were still ringing from the sound of the ripping metal. Just them Sam's dad burst through the door, followed by his little brother.

"Sam, are you all right?" he asked enveloping his son in a hug. His eight year old brother climbed into the chair on the other side of Sam and joined in on the hug.

"I'm OK Dad. If I wasn't I wouldn't be sitting here," Sam said calmly. Typical Sam, always a voice a reason and logic behind every response he gave. Sam's dad looked over at me and gave me a small hug as well.

"I'm just so glad you kids are OK," he said. I didn't know Sam's dad very well but from what Sam told me he was a big worrier. I smiled slightly and let Sam talk to his family. A million things were racing through my mind. How was JJ? Was Dylan going to be all right? What or who caused the accident?

As I sat there in thought, the door to the waiting room was thrown open and in ran my family. My mom practically sprinted across the room and flung her arms around me. She was sobbing uncontrollably and was saying something to me but I couldn't understand her through all her tears.

My mom eventually let go and Ella gave me a huge hug as well. She didn't say anything; she just sat there with her arms around me tightly. As if she was afraid I'd vanish if she let go of me. I buried my face into her brown hair and murmured, "I'm all right Ells. Really." My mom eventually pulled Ella off of me and guided her to a chair across from me. I smiled at my little sister, letting her know that everything was all right. Just then, a third pair of arms wrapped around me and gave me a secure hug. I looked up to see Iggy towering above me. "Hey Ig," I said softly. "What are you doing here?"

"Ella called me and told me what happened. I didn't waste a second getting here," he whispered in my ear. I smiled and returned his hug. He let go and sat down next to me in the chair. My mom sat down next to Ella and stroked her hair. A few more people came into the waiting room, some I didn't recognize and I listened as they talked to the receptionist. I overheard the names Hans and realized they were Dylan's parents.

I slowly stood up, not wanting to fall over in front of all these people and crossed the room to reach them. "Excuse me," I said politely. "Are you Dylan's parents?"

"Yes," the woman said. She was a short plump woman with bright blue eyes just like Dylan's. "Were you in the crash?"

"Yes Ma'am, I'm Max Batchelder. The boy over there with the light brown hair is Sam. He was in the crash as well." Mrs. Hans wiped her eyes with a tissue she had been clutching and pulled me into a hug.

"I'm glad to see you're all right dear," she said softly. Dylan's father nodded in agreement. He was tall, not much more then Dylan and had the same hair color. Mrs. Hans went over to where we were all sitting, gave Sam a hug then began talking to my mom. I sat down next to Iggy and glanced up at the clock. It was almost one in the morning and up until now I hadn't felt tired but now a wave of exhaustion crashed over me and the only thing I wanted to do was go home and sleep.

"Max? Do you want us to take you home now? The nurse said you and Sam were free to go," my mom said seeing how tired I was. I shook my head and yawned. I wanted to stay until I found out how Dylan and JJ were. One of the nurses came from the ER area and called over Dylan's parents. They talked quietly for a few moments and I noticed Dylan's mom start smiling. Mr. Hans came over to us quickly, a smile also on his face.

"Dylan is going to be fine," he said happily. I exchanged glances with Sam and Iggy and almost jumped for joy. Mr. Hans followed the nurse and they went to go be with Dylan. Now all I had to do was find out about JJ. A few minutes later, JJ's mom, step dad and two sisters walked in. Her oldest sister, Courtney, was holding a sleeping toddler. Her mom saw us and instantly ran over to give me and Sam hugs.

"They haven't told us anything," I said when JJ's mom let me go. She looked at me, a smile on her face but eyes full of fear.

"I know; we're going to go find out now. What about the other boy?" she asked, talking about Dylan.

"He's all right. His parents are with him now actually. He had to get a small operation to stitch up his injured leg," Sam replied. JJ's mom flashed a small smile then followed the nurse into the ER with her husband. Amanda and Courtney sat down next to my mom and Amanda began apologizing for what happened.

"My dear, it's not your fault," my mom comforted. "There was nothing you could have done to prevent the accident. I already talked to the police officer. JJ did nothing wrong, a drunk driver ran a red light and hit them." My head perked up at what my mom said. No one had told me what caused the accident, and now I knew. Whoever that person was, was an idiot.

I felt sleepy again and started yawning. Iggy put an arm around me and pulled me over so that I was leaning against him. It was much more comfortable then sleeping sitting up so I didn't complain. I don't know how long I slept but when I woke up, Amanda and Courtney were gone. Everyone else sat in the room, looking anxious. Ella had fallen asleep, curled up in a little ball in her chair. I looked up at Iggy, and he was staring straight ahead at the wall, spacing out. I sat up slowly and stretched. "How long was I out?" I whispered, not wanting to wake Ella.

"Only twenty minutes or so," Iggy replied. I felt very stiff so I stood up to stretch and I looked back up at the clock. It was now going on two and there was still no news on JJ. My mom looked over at me and smiled.

"Max, are you sure you don't want to go home now? JJ's parents will call us when they find everything out," she asked. I once again shook my head. "Iggy? Why don't you go home dear, I'm sure your mom is wondering what's taking so long."

"Nah, I texted her saying that I was going to stay until I found out about everyone," Iggy said with a shrug. I sat back down and watched the second hand tick away on the clock. Every passing second seemed to take twice as long as it normally should have. Time was torturing me, it wanted me to suffer and wait.

It felt like hours later, even though it was only minutes, when the door to the ER opened and a nurse showed JJ's family out. I took one look at their faces and knew that something was wrong. Her step-dad was stone faced, not showing any emotion at all. Like all feeling had been sucked out of him. Amanda and Courtney were crying silently, not looking at anyone's faces and then her mom came out. She looked like someone had ripped her heart out and stabbed it repeatedly. Her eyes were puffy and her face was stained with tears and mascara.

They came over to all of us and stood there unsure of what to say. My mom shook Ella awake and Sam, Iggy and I sat intently waiting to hear the news. I knew that it wasn't good but I was waiting to hear it anyway. "Kids JJ is, is…" her mom trailed off. She couldn't even finish her sentence, tears came pouring out of her eyes and she sobbed uncontrollably. We all looked up at JJ's step dad for the answer we were all dreading. Only one thing would have caused a reaction like this from her family.

"I'm sorry kids," was all he had to say. Everyone in the room was able to put the pieces together. I sat there, mouth wide open, staring at JJ's family. The news hit me like a truck, JJ was gone. She wasn't going to come out of that ER. A drunk driver had killed one of my best friends. I looked around at my family and friends. There wasn't one dry eye in the room. I felt my own face and was surprised to feel tears streaming down my face as well.

We all sat there, for who knows how long. I lay my head on Iggy's shoulder and he wrapped his arms around me in a secure embrace. I could feel the tears that dripped off his face land on my head. My mom held Ella's hand while she sobbed. Sam and his dad simply sat there crying, his little brother had fallen asleep and was lying down on one of the benches. JJ's family all held each other and cried. Eventually I pulled away from Iggy and walked over to the window. The city lights danced and sparkled. JJ loved nothing more than to sit on the roof of her house in Huntington Park. Lights that she would never get to look at again. "Max, I think it's time to go home," my mom said gently.

I looked back at everyone in the waiting room, and nodded. I walked through the room and gave everyone in it a hug good-bye. Then my mom took my arm and led me out of the waiting room. Iggy followed closely behind, carrying Ella on his back. She was still sobbing so Iggy had just picked her up so she could keep on crying. I opened the back door to my mom's car and Iggy set Ella in the front seat. "I'll follow you home," he muttered to my mom before closing Ella's door. I pulled on my seatbelt and stared out the window and watched as Iggy got into his truck and waited for my mom to drive.

Ella eventually stopped crying and fell into a light sleep for most of the car ride home. When we pulled into our driveway, my mom sat there for a minute with the car still on. "Max, where were you sitting in the car?" she asked slowly.

"What?" I whispered. "Behind JJ." It then dawned on me, why was I still alive if we had been hit on the driver's side? That was something I intended to figure out. I opened up the door and climbed out of the car. Iggy came up alongside me and gave me another hug. He then opened up the passenger door and lifted Ella up out of her seat.

My mom walked into the house and sat down at the kitchen table, with her hands on her head. I stumbled in after her and Iggy came in last carrying Ella. "Iggy, could you take her up to her room please?" my mom asked. Iggy nodded and silently walked out of the room. "I have to call Vicky," my mom said suddenly.

"But Mom, it's three AM. They're asleep," I argued.

"I was with Vicky when I got the call about the accident. She told me that no matter what time it was; to call when we got back and tell her what happened. I'll be on the phone in my room. Maybe you should get some sleep sweetheart." She then stood up and walked slowly out of the room. She passed Iggy on the way up and he stood in the doorway to the kitchen watching me.

"It's just not right," I said softly. "All of us were able to live, except JJ. Why did she have to be the only one to die? I was sitting behind her, shouldn't I be dead too?" I asked out loud.

"I don't know. But we'll find out," Iggy said softly. "I'm just really glad you're all right. I don't know what I would have done if I lost you too." I smiled softly at him and walked out of the kitchen into the living room. I was super tired and I thought that if I went to sleep I would wake up and this horrible incident would have been a bad dream. Iggy sat down next to me and grabbed a blanket that was sitting on the arm of the couch. He threw it on me and whispered, "Get some sleep; you've had a rough night."

That couch was getting comfier by the second; it wouldn't take long for me to fall asleep. I leaned back and shut my eyes and waited for sleep to overtake me but before I did I said, "Ig, promise me something. When I wake up you'll be here." Iggy didn't respond but I did feel him reach over and stroke my hair gently.

I don't really know how long I slept, but I know I didn't sleep well. My dreams were filled with bright lights, screaming and the sound of metal scraping metal. Eventually I couldn't take the sound anymore and I snapped my eyes open to see that I was in my own room. For a minute I didn't really remember what happened last night but then it hit me. JJ was gone. She was killed in a car crash that we had all been in last night. We were hit by a drunk driver.

A soft groan then caught my attention. I looked over to see Iggy asleep in my desk chair. I had fallen asleep in that chair before and I knew it would mess with his back. I untangled myself from my sheets and walked over to Iggy. "Ig, wake up. Iggy, come on time to get up," I whispered in his ear.

"Wha'? Max, you're awake. How are you feeling?" he asked sleepily.

"I should be asking you, you're the one who slept in a wooden chair after all," I replied. I extended out my hand and lifted Iggy to his feet. He stretched and cracked his back. "I've slept in that chair before; your back is going to hurt for the rest of the day." I then noticed what time it was. The clock read three thirty. Which meant I had been asleep for about eleven and a half hours.

"Come on, let's go see what your family is up to," Iggy said.

"Hold on, I don't want to wear these clothes anymore," I said quickly. I was still wearing my outfit from the concert and it wasn't very comfortable. "I'll be down in a minute." Iggy nodded and walked out of my room. I dug around in my pajama drawer until I found a pair of shorts and a t-shirt I had stolen from Iggy when we were in junior high.

I took off my outfit from last night and put on my nice comfy pajamas. I couldn't do anything with my hair since my head was wrapped in gauze so I left it. I then slipped on my fuzzy slippers. As I walked down the stairs I heard the sound of voices coming from the kitchen. "Fine. But whatever you do, don't make her more upset then she already is," Iggy's voice said coldly. I wondered who he was talking to and I walked into the kitchen and stopped dead in my tracks.

"Max," Iggy said slowly. "If you want him gone, then I'll show him out." I shook my head and stared at the boy sitting at my table. This was the first contact I had had with Fang since our fight the first day of school. But there he was, sitting at my table.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. I pulled up a chair and sat down across from Fang. I caught a glimpse of Ella and Nudge sitting on the deck. From the looks of it, they were both crying.

"Vicky told me about the accident," he said softly. "Max I'm, I'm really sorry. Fang looked pretty much everywhere but my face. I figured it was because of how bad it looked. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror on my way downstairs. Besides a big thick bandage across my forehead, my eyes were puffy and red from crying. There were heavy tear stains running down the sides of my face and I had dozens of small cuts from little pieces of glass.

"Don't say sorry to me; say sorry to JJ's family. They're the ones that lost a daughter," I replied flatly. At the thought of JJ's poor family, I felt more tears threatening to pour out of my eyes again. Iggy was at my side in a second, his arms wrapping around me in a tight hug.

"Max, I wasn't just saying sorry about the accident. I was saying sorry for the way I've been acting towards you. Both of you actually," Fang said. The wood of the chair scraped against the floor as Fang stood up. "I haven't been a very good friend recently and I wanted to apologize." Iggy let go of me and we looked at each other, unsure of how to respond.

"Fang," I said. "It's going to take a long time for us to forgive you for what you did. But if we don't all let go of what happened, then all our childhood memories will be lost." Iggy nodded in agreement. I saw Fang's eyes light up and I held out my arms to him. He gave me a great big hug, and then Iggy joined in. It felt, right. Three friends, together since our childhood, coming together after a long painful fight; I knew we had a long road of pain ahead of us in the next few days but now that we were together again we might be able to get through it.

"Looks like you three made up," Nudge said softly from the deck. We all turned to see Nudge and Ella standing there watching us. Fang, Iggy and I spent the rest of the day together, catching up on what we had missed in the two week Fang didn't talk to us. None of us mentioned the fight; it was behind us at that point.

"Hi kids," my mom said stiffly as she walked in the front door. She had spent the most of the day with JJ's parents. Comforting them and helping them plan the funeral. My mom was very close with JJ's mom; they worked together at the same vet hospital. "They have the dates set. They're going to have the visitation on Tuesday and the funeral itself on Wednesday," she said as she sat down in the air chair. "Max, Dad will be home tomorrow afternoon. There aren't any flights that he would be able to make today. His work isn't letting him leave until he settles the deal at seven tonight."

"Oh, all right," I said. "Did they find out the identity of the man that hit us?"

"Yes, his name is Parker Kelly. Apparently he is a student at University of California."

"Did he get injured at all in the accident?" Iggy asked, taking the words out of my mouth. My mom shook her head.

"That's not right," I yelled. "He causes a car crash that kills someone and he walks away? There is something messed up with the world if people get away with that kind of stuff." I slowly felt my blood begin to boil and I knew I needed to find a way to calm down. "I'm going for a walk," I said. No one tried to stop me as I walked out of the living room and headed outside slamming the door behind me.

I wasn't really headed any place particular, I just needed to get out and stretch my legs. I had spent so much time sitting and laying down the past twelve hours it felt good to get up and move around. I didn't even care that I was still in my pajamas or looked like one of Dr. Frankenstein's creations. If people had a problem with it, then it sucked to be them.

After three laps around the block I finally felt better so I headed for home. When I reached my house I noticed that Iggy's truck was gone but a different car was parked in its place. I instantly recognized it as Dylan's Taurus. I walked inside to see Dylan, Fang, my mom and Dylan's mom all sitting in the living room. Dylan had one leg propped up on a pillow and a wheelchair sat next to the edge of the couch. "Glad you could join us Max," Dylan said with a fake happy voice.

"I needed to blow off some steam. Did Iggy go home?" I asked as I sat down on the other side of the room.

"About five minutes ago. His mom called and said she figured it would be best for him to come home," Fang explained. I sat there in silence and listened to my mom and Mrs. Hans talk about the accident and the funeral. At that moment, all I wanted to do was go up to my room and crawl under my covers. I wanted to get away from people, and talking and noise in general.

"I think I'm going to go upstairs," I announced. Once again no one stopped me as I left the living room and climbed the stairs to my still dark bedroom. I shut the door, locked it and sat down on my bed and tried to make some sense about how so much could fall apart so quickly.

When I got tired of thinking about that, I thought about JJ, and all the plans we had made for this school year. Going to prom, working on our senior project together, and all sorts of other things had been on our to-do-list and now they were all gone. I felt like, a part of me was missing. JJ was usually pretty busy after school with sports and babysitting her niece and all but we hung out as much as possible. Now, that was gone forever. I had been planning on going to her first cross country meet of the season next week.

"Max? JJ's mom called. She was wondering if you would like to give a speech at the funeral," my mom called from the other side of my door.

"Sure, I'll do it," I said. I knew exactly what I wanted to say about JJ so I went over to my desk, tuned on the lamp and began typing away on my laptop all the amazing stories I could tell about JJ.

Sunday and Monday passed by with a blur. My parents didn't make me go to school and I spent most of the time writing my speech. When Tuesday came, I told them I didn't want to go but they made me anyways. I didn't feel ready to drive anywhere yet, so I asked Fang to give me and Ella a ride. Things had been going pretty well between is so that was one less thing I had to worry about. When we got to school, Ella waved good-bye and went off to join her friends.

I managed to ignore the stares and whispers for the first ten minutes, but eventually it got on my nerves. I still had the bandage wrapped around my head and a lot of people were staring at it. There was no surprise why I was wearing it; the entire school knew what had happened. I stood in front of the library, watching people pass by me. A few girls on JJ's cross country team came over and gave me a hug, which I stiffly accepted.

I hadn't seen Iggy or Sam all morning and Fang had to leave me to go take some make-up test. I knew Dylan wasn't at school yet since his leg was still in too much pain. For the first time since freshman year, I spent my morning alone. The bell for first period rang and I walked to my classroom without talking to a single person. Iggy was already in Miller's classroom when I got there. He saw me and said, "Sorry, I just got here. I slept through my alarm and to double time it to get here." I sat in my desk and talked to Iggy about our plans for the visitation when I became aware that someone was staring at me.

It was some junior boy named Mark. He was looking at my forehead like he expected something to happen with my bandages. "Take a picture, it lasts longer," I growled. Mark instantly spun around and I could see him tremble in his desk.

Miller walked into the room and for the first time, I went through an entire class without him yelling at me to pay attention. Iggy and I walked out of the classroom when the bell rang and I made my way down to Physics. Sam arrived a few minutes after the bell rang and handed a slip of paper to the teacher. She nodded and Sam took his seat. The entire class period I stared at the desk where JJ had sat only four days ago.

Somehow I got through the class without bursting into tears. Sam and I walked up to lunch in silence and we found Iggy sitting at our usual table. Today was different because Fang decided to sit with us, while Lissa sat with her cheerleader friends. Even with Fang sitting with us, the table felt empty. We all agreed to leave a single chair empty in honor of JJ.

About halfway through lunch, a sophomore girl walked up to our table and began to drag the chair away. "Leave that there," Iggy called as the girl walked away.

"Why? No one's sitting in it. I need a chair and all the other empty ones are on the other end of the cafeteria," she whined. She began walking away again when I stood up. I reached forward and grabbed the chair before she could take another step. "What's your problem? It's just an empty chair," the girl spat at me.

"Leave. The. Chair. Here," I hissed through clenched teeth. I gave her my infamous glare of death and the kid finally got the message. She backed away slowly, her hands held up as if that was going to protect her. I pulled the chair back to its original spot and took my own seat back.

"You're really scary. Did you know that?" Sam asked as I took a bite of my sandwich. I smirked at him and continued eating. There was a reason people didn't mess with me, and even though I was heartbroken over losing my friend, I didn't let that get in the way of my reputation.

Lunch ended and I slowly walked to gym. It was the class I had been dreading all day because JJ had been in it with me and now without her I had no one to talk to while I worked out. It was the longest hour of my entire life but finally class ended and I went straight to Spanish without talking to a single person. Class seemed to fly by, much to my joy. When the final bell of the day rang I found Fang, Ella and Nudge and we all walked out to Fang's car and headed for home.

"Are you ready for this?" Ella asked as we walked inside.

"Not really, but maybe this will be like closure or something. We don't have a lot of time so we better hurry," I replied. JJ's family chose to start the visitation after school got out so that more people from school would be able to come.

I quickly changed into the outfit I had picked out earlier. I actually put some thought into what I was going to wear, since it was to honor JJ. I wore black dress pants and a sky blue blouse. Sky blue had been JJ's favorite color so I thought it was appropriate. I put on the necklace JJ had given me for my fifteenth birthday and sat in front of the mirror looking at it.

The charm was a small dove in flight. She had told me it reminded her of me, since I was so free all the time. On the back of the dove there was an inscription that read "JJ & Max. Friends for life" As I sat there, my mom called me saying it was time to go. I slipped on a pair of black flats I had borrowed from Ella and ran down the stairs.

My more wore a simple but elegant black dress with a string of pearls around her neck. Ella had on a purple blouse with a pleated brown skirt and matching heels. My dad was going to meet us at the funeral home so we all piled into Mom's car and drove to the funeral home.

There were several people there by the time we arrived. I spotted Andrew's car, so I knew Fang and Nudge were around somewhere. I also saw Robin's car and I caught a glimpse of curly blond hair walking into the funeral home. I took Ella by the hand and we walked over to where a group of kids from my school were. I didn't know them all that well, but I knew they were all on various sports teams with JJ. I hugged each and every one of them.

"Max, are you ready?" someone whispered from behind me. Iggy was standing there, in a black suit with a light blue tie on. I nodded and tugged on Ella's hand. The three of us got in the line to view the coffin. As we got closer I saw that it was a closed coffin, which probably meant that JJ's lifeless body was too mangled to look peaceful.

I hand went to my mouth when it was finally out turn. I touched the coffin gently and whispered so softly not even Ella and Iggy could hear me, "I love you JJ. I'll make sure you are remembered as the fun loving carefree girl you were." I stepped away from the coffin and Iggy and Ella each took a turn looking at the coffin. I saw Iggy's mouth move and figured he said some type of good-bye to his friend.

We spent the next hour or so looking around at all the memorabilia that JJ's family had brought. There were pictures, trophies, awards and some of JJ's favorite things, like the baseball she caught at her very first game. I also hugged a lot of other people, some of them I knew and some I didn't. For some reason, at visitations everyone hugged each other, whether or not they knew the other person.

The visitation ended and everyone began leaving. I found my parents and we headed for home. I still had a few last minute touches to make on the speech, but I knew I would have it done in time for the funeral tomorrow afternoon.


	9. Different ways of healing

**Me: *Walks into room and starts giving out virtual cookies* Thank you all so much for your reviews! Several of you gave me some great ideas about either future chapters in this story or new ideas for future stories. It is because of your comments and support that I continue to write so thank you all from the bottom of my heart! Now for the disclaimer, I found Iggy hiding in the bathroom by the way. Sadly, he refuses to talk on his own will so Angel is here again to force him to say the disclaimer.**

**Iggy: Water Wolf 100 does not own any of the characters in this story. They all belong to Mr. James Patterson the amazing author of the Maximum Ride series. And just so you all know the Flock is no longer under the control of Max. Angel will be leading us from now on…**

**Me: Angel…what did Max tell you about trying to take over the Flock. *Angel smiles sweetly, trying to look innocent.* Anywho, read, enjoy and review! **

***This is the real chapter! I am soooooooooooooooo sorry for reuploading a chapter. I'm still new at this so please forgive me for my mistake! I promice it won't happen agian. Here are some more virtual cookies as an apology. I truely am sorry and a thanks to AnneTaylor for pointing out my mistake. Thank you very much! Twice as many cookies for you, plus ice cream with sprinkles!**

Chapter 9: Different ways of healing

The next morning I woke up with a large knot in my stomach. This was the day, JJ's funeral. The funeral started at eleven so my mom called me and Ella off of school. I knew a lot of kids would be missing today and a few teachers as well. I took a very long shower, letting the steam clear my brain of any negative thoughts.

Today was one of those rare occasions that I bothered to blow dry my hair, so I stood there in the bathroom watching as my hair changed from wet dark brown to its normal light brown color. When I was done I plugged in Ella's flat iron and while I waited for it to heat up I put on the outfit Ella helped me choose.

We had gone to the shopping center in Maywood and Ella spotted a dress and said I had to get it. I bought it just to shut her up, and now I actually had a reason to wear it. It was a light blue dress with some shimmery stuff around the hem. It had thin straps, about the width of my index and middle fingers and went down a little past my knees. Ella made me wear her silver heels saying they would match perfectly. That along with my dove necklace created the perfect outfit for a funeral.

I went back into the bathroom and straightened my hair. I ended up getting done just in time. I unplugged the flat iron and walked down the stairs to where my family was waiting. My mom had on a similar black dress to the one she wore yesterday, my dad was in a black and white suit and Ella had on an elegant pale yellow dress.

I clutched my speech notes in my hand as we drove back to the funeral home. We arrived about twenty minutes early and I was already starting to freak out. Ella held my hand and looked at me with understanding eyes. I was going to be the third one to speak, right behind JJ's mom and her stepdad. I saw Iggy and Fang walk in and I gave each of them a giant hug. "You're going to be fine," Iggy whispered to me as I hugged him. I wish I had that much confidence in myself. I was surprised to see that Dylan had come to the funeral as well. He was still in his wheelchair but he sat in the back and gave me a thumbs us.

We all took our seats and the ceremony began. I sat between Iggy and Ella, with Fang on the other side of Iggy. My nerves were racing through most of the first two speeches and I almost missed them calling my name to give mine. As I stood up, Iggy grabbed my hand and gave it a light, reassuring squeeze. I slowly made my way up the podium and looked out at the crowd. There were at least a hundred people sitting in that chapel. Most of them were faces I knew and almost every single one of them was crying. I cleared my throat and began my speech.

"Hello. My name is Max, Max Morris. For those of you who do not know, I was in the accident that took JJ's life. This has been a difficult week for all of us, since we're all trying to adjust to a life without JJ.

"JJ has been my friend since we were in the second grade. She made the ultimate second grade sacrifice and shared her box of 64 crayons with me." That got a few chuckles out of the audience. I continued, "JJ was one of my only friends who was a girl and that meant that we were extremely close. In junior high we talked about boys at our school, cute actors and all sorts of other pre-teen girl things. When we reached high school, JJ fell in love with sports and they kept her pretty busy.

"All throughout high school I never missed a single event JJ was in. This summer was the first exception to that because out schedules made it impossible for me to go to any of her games, but every time she had a game I sent her a text wishing her good luck and that I knew she would do well.

"While writing this speech I thought of a dozen words I could use to describe her but only one seemed to fit her perfectly. All you have to do is look at her name. JJ-Jennifer Joy. JJ was a very joyful person. She always had a smile on her face and never let anything bring her down. She would encourage others around her to do their best, and she never let anyone give up. I think that instead of being sad about losing JJ, we should celebrate the life she did have. However short it may have been, and however horribly it had been taken from her. The best way I can think of to celebrate her life is by living the way she did, with a smile on our faces and a song in our hearts. I will never forget JJ, or the things she taught me. JJ, I love you." I finished my speech and wiped my eyes which I hadn't even noticed were tearing up. I sat back down in my seat and both Iggy and Ella gave me a small hug.

The rest of the funeral went in the same way. There was an announcement saying that those who wanted to go to the burial were to meet at the local cemetery in an hour. People took their time leaving, talking to one another. I had about seven people come up and tell me what I beautiful speech I gave. When we finally made it outside, I stood in the grass with Fang, Iggy, Ella and Nudge. Fang kept looking at a guy that was standing nervously on the other side of the door from where we were.

"Does that guy look familiar to you?" Fang asked. The more I looked at him, the more I agreed with Fang. My eyes shot open wide when I realized who it was.

"That's him," I hissed. "Parker. The man who caused the accident." Parker Kelly was not a very big guy, he was fairly tall but lanky. His black hair fell in stands across his eyes as they searched around the area. I was overcome by an incredible rage. This was the man that had taken JJ's life, who had caused this whole mess.

"Max, don't do anything stupid," Ella begged. I paid no attention to her as I stormed over to Parker Kelly.

"You're Parker Kelly," I stated as I reached him. His eyes grew wide when he saw me and he tried to back away, but there was nowhere for him to go. I clenched my fist and swung my arm with as much force as possible. There was a loud crack as my fist connected with his jaw. "You ruined everything," I hissed. I grabbed him by his shirt collar and pulled him close to my face. "You took JJ from us, you hurt all these people here because of your stupidity. How is it that you walked away from that when you caused so much hurt to others?"

Parker trembled as I hissed out every word with as much hatred as possible. "I want you to hurt, just as much as you made all of us hurt. Because of what you did, a beautiful young girl will never get to graduate from high school, or go to college, or have a family. What you did is unforgivable," I said through gritted teeth. I then kneed him in the stomach as hard as I could and he crumpled to the ground.

"Max stop, he's not worth it!" Iggy called out as he held me back.

"Let go of me Iggy," I snapped. But since Iggy is very stubborn, he only held on tighter. He wrapped his arms around my stomach and held me still while the last of my rage subsided. My breathing slowed down and I stood there panting.

Parker stood up, trembling. He was clutching his jaw tightly, obviously trying to keep from crying. "I don't know what to say," he said slowly. Each word he said slowly, trying to keep from slurring. "I made a mistake, and you're right. I didn't deserve to walk away from all of that. You have every right to hate me. I'm even starting to hate myself."

"What's going on here?" my mom yelled as she ran over to us. I hadn't noticed before, but a lot of people were staring at us. I guess they all saw me slug Parker in the face. "I think it's time for us to go home. You and I are going to have a long talk young lady." She grabbed me by the elbow and began dragging me from the funeral parlor. Ella followed closely behind, afraid to speak. When our mom got really angry, it was best to not say anything at all rather than defend your motives.

As we reached the parking lot I saw my dad already standing there, keys in hand. "Get in the car girls," he said sternly. Ella pulled open the door and sat down without argument.

I turned to face me dad, he was always more understanding about my anger issues. I opened my mouth to explain myself but my up a hand to silence me. "Maximum if you know what's good for you, you will keep your mouth shut," she hissed. I stared at my mom wide eyed but didn't argue. I slid into the seat next to Ella and buckled my seatbelt. No one said a single ride the entire ride home and once we were in our driveway; Ella jumped out of the car and walked straight into the house.

"I think the three of us need to have a little talk," my dad finally said. He locked the car and I followed him and my mom into the kitchen. It took a few minutes before my parents were ready to talk. My mom pointed to the kitchen chair and I sat down and looked at them.

My mom sighed and started taking out her earrings. "Max, what were you thinking? You assaulted someone, at your friend's funeral for goodness sake! What on earth was going through your head?" she asked sternly.

"That was the guy, the one that caused the accident. You guys won't accept this as an excuse but I honestly don't know what came over me. Only one thought was running through my head. Make him suffer for what he did to us. It didn't seem fair to me that he got to walk away while one of my best friends died. I-I know what I did was wrong but I couldn't control myself," I explained. My parents didn't say anything in response, so we just sat there in an uncomfortable silence.

"Max, I know you're hurting. But that is by no means a reason to take your anger out on others. There are other ways to cope with tragedy. I was speaking to Sam's father the other day and he gave me the number for a wonderful therapist. Apparently she's been very helpful with Sam these past few days," my mom said. At first she started out looking right at me but as she continued it seemed like she was talking to herself. Almost as if she was trying to convince herself of something.

"Valencia I don't think Max needs to go to a therapist," Dad pointed out. I nodded quickly in agreement. I had no desire sit in some stuffy room talking to a stranger about my problems.

"Um, can I go now? I really want to get out of this dress," I said. My dad looked at me, gave a small smile and nodded. I didn't wait to get an answer from my mom, since I was sure she wanted to talk some more. I climbed up the stairs and headed straight for my bedroom. When I opened the door, Ella was sitting on my bed, looking through a photo album.

When she heard the door open, Ella's head popped up and her eyes were filled with tears. "I'm sorry Max, I know I'm not supposed to go in your room without permission but I just wanted to look," she said as her voice began to crack. I sat down next to her and looked at the photo album sitting on her lap.

It was filled with pictures of me, Sam, Fang, Iggy and JJ; our last summer before high school. That had been one of the greatest times of my life; everything seemed to be perfect back then. JJ was alive, Fang wasn't dating Lissa and we all got to spend every day with each other.

As I flipped through each page, memories came flooding back to me. Memories that I had forgotten I even had, the crazy things that we did back then. It had been my mom's idea; at the time I thought it was stupid. Now, as I looked back on that summer, I'm glad she did it. I would always have the memories of happier times and that would never go away.

Ella started sniffling and I gently lay my head down on her shoulder. I could feel tears falling down off her face and onto the top of my head. Soon, salty tears were falling down my face as well. We sat there, on my bed, crying. Neither of us said anything, we didn't need to. The fact that we were both there for each other was the best healing we could ask for. Eventually, my neck got stiff so I leaned back onto my pillows and somehow amidst all the crying I fell asleep.

I found myself in a nightmare; it was a repeat of the crash. Only I was watching from the outside, as a bystander. I watched as Parker's car sped through the light, and hit JJ's car. As I watched I understood how it all happened. Parker hit us at the front of the car, hitting only the front door and the engine. If his car had been any farther down, I might not have survived. As JJ's car was hit, it slid across the street and the back end hit a third car parked on the curb.

The backend was smashed in, which explained how Dylan was cut by the metal, the door had literally been pushed inward and a piece of it somehow cut his leg. The car just sat there, smashed in on two sides, broken glass and scraps of metal littered the street. Inside that car, JJ was dead, Dylan was injured and Sam and I managed to get out of it with only minor injuries.

Just when I thought it was all over, the dream repeated itself. Only this time it was from a different angle. I don't know how many times I had that dream, but every time it was a little bit different. Eventually I couldn't take it anymore and I screamed. "MAX! Wake up!" a voice yelled while I screamed. I was woken up from my dream and found Ella sitting next to me. "Max, you were screaming in your sleep. What's wrong?"

I sat up and stared at Ella, she was still in the same clothes, and the photo album lay at the foot of my bed. I shot my eyes up to the clock and saw that I had only been asleep for about a half hour. "It was just a nightmare," I replied sheepishly.

"You wanna talk about it?"

"No not really. I'm fine Ells, honestly." Ella smiled faintly and nodded. I watched as Ella got off of my bed and walked out of my room shutting the door behind her. I fell back against my pillows and tried to get the nightmare out of my head.

Unfortunately that didn't work out to well. As soon as I would start falling asleep the nightmare would start up again. It was like some bad horror movie that I couldn't stop. Around five thirty I gave up trying to go to sleep and climbed out of bed. The sun wouldn't rise for another hour so I decided to sit on our deck and wait for it.

I set myself down in one of our red and white striped lawn chairs and looked towards the east. The hour passed quickly and soon I was the first hints of the sun rising above the skyline. The glass door behind me open and I turned around to see my mom standing there in her pajamas and a bath robe. "Couldn't sleep?" she asked taking a seat next to me.

"Not really. Too many things going through my mind to sleep."

"Max about yesterday. I'm sorry I got so angry with you. Losing JJ hurt you and you were just grieving in your own way. Do you remember when I told you about your Uncle Henry?"

"Your little brother? Yeah I remember, although I don't really remember him too well."

My mom laughed a little and said, "That's because you've never met him. Henry died when we were little kids. I wasn't much younger then you, around sixteen or seventeen. He was only twelve at the time. Losing him was the hardest time of my life, I was so angry at everyone. So, I understand how you feel sweetheart. I really do. And if you ever want to talk about it, I'll be here." I flung my arms around my mom's neck and started crying all over again. I knew that the hurt I was feeling would take a long time to heal but with friends and family as amazing as mine I think I'll be able to get through it.

After my little cry fest on the deck I went back inside and started getting ready for school. While I waited for Ella to get dressed I tried to catch at least five minutes of sleep before we left but the same dream still haunted me. This was going to get annoying after a while.

Fang drove us to school again and he and I headed off in search of Iggy. "Morning Ig," I said trying to stifle a yawn.

"Wow, you look terrible. Like you didn't sleep at all," Iggy said.

"Thanks Iggy, that's what a girl wants to hear first thing in the morning. And for your information I didn't sleep at all last night. I think I got maybe thirty minutes top," I growled. I yawned again and sat on the ground. I had zero energy and I didn't know if I would make it through the day without passing out.

"Come on Max. We have to go to class," Iggy said.

"Carry me," I whined. I stretched my arms out, asking Iggy to pick me up since I was too tired to walk anywhere.

Iggy groaned and kneeled on the ground and I wrapped my arms around his neck and he carried me down the hallway to our English classroom. "What's wrong with Max?" our teacher Mrs. Sampson asked when she saw us. Iggy set me down in my seat and collapsed next to me.

"She apparently got no sleep last night, so she made me carry her down here," Iggy replied as if it was something completely normal to do. I set my head down on the desk and tried to relax but soon a huge crowd of people came into the room.

"Hey Max what's wrong?" someone asked. I lifted up my head slightly and glared at the person who dared to bother me. I gave the girl my most evil death glare and she backed away and sat on the other side of the room. I ignored Mrs. Sampson throughout the entire class period and when the bell rang I stood up and trudged out of the room.

The rest of the day went the same way. I had never been so tired in my entire life, every moment I felt like I was going to fall over in the middle of the hallway. Sometime during third period I actually did fall asleep but the dream came back. I guess I fell out of my chair because the next thing I knew I was on the ground and my whole class was looking at me. "Max, maybe you should go to the nurse," my history teacher said.

"Yes Mr. Clarke," I grumbled. He handed me a pass and I walked out of the room, trying to ignore all the stares pounding into the back of my neck. I finally made it down to the nurse's office on the other end of the building and she took one look at me and forced me to lie down. I ended up only lying there staring at the ceiling tiles. Even though I was exhausted I had no intentions of going to sleep, if I did that nightmare would come back. My phone vibrated in my pocket and I quickly pulled it out to see who it was.

Iggy's name popped up under the words 'new text message' so I rolled on my side facing the wall to see what he said. "Heard u got sent 2 nurse's office. U ok?"

I checked over my shoulder before quickly typing,"not really. Fell out of chair in history. Nurse trying 2 make me sleep. Not working tho." I shut my phone and shoved it in my pocket. After a half hour of pretending to sleep I got up and asked the nurse if I could go back to class. She gave me a pass and I forced myself to perk up so that no one would ask questions.

I managed to get through my last class without completely passing out. I found Fang by his locker at the end of the day. He was standing next to someone and I got closer I saw that it was Lissa. She looked pretty upset. "Fang, you've hardly spent any time with me all week! What's been wrong with you?" she yelled.

"Lissa, I've been busy. Just relax," Fang soothed. He took her hand and looked sweetly at her.

"Yeah busy hanging out with Maximum. I don't trust her Fang. What if she tried to steal you from me?"

"Lissa, Max is one of my best friends. And we've been trying to get through losing JJ remember? She was a good friend of ours and we're mourning her. She's not going to try to steal you from me, I promise." Lissa looked defeated but didn't argue. She gave Fang a quick peck on his cheek and walked away. As she passed me, I saw a smirk out of the corner of my eye. She was up to something, but I wasn't in the mood to care.

"What was that all about?" I asked as I walked up to Fang. He shook his head and began shoving books into his bag.

"Forget it. Lissa's just upset I haven't been able to hang out with her in a while," he muttered. "Oh, hey Sam." I turned to see that Sam was standing behind me.

"Hi guys," he said. His tone of voice was happy, but it sounded forced. "Um, Max. Can-can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked quickly. I looked over at Fang and he shrugged.

"Sure," I said simply. Sam took my wrist and led me away from Fang and didn't stop until we had reached the practice rooms for the band kids.

"Look, I don't know who else to go to. This has been hurting me for so long and if I don't say anything I think I'll burst," Sam started.

"Sam, as much as I want to help, please get to the point quickly," I said maybe a little too irritably. What can I say though? I was running on thirty minutes of sleep.

"Right sorry. It's just that, it feels like every minute of the day, I see it. The car, it haunts me. And it's just not the car I see as well. Right before we were hit, JJ grabbed onto my arm. And she looked me straight in the eyes. I still feel her iron grip on my arm, and her eyes…whenever I'm alone it's like they are there staring at me. Pleading with me to do something, but I can't!" Sam cried. He literally started crying. I had never seen Sam so broken in my life. I guess that's why his dad knew the number for the therapist. Sam was going to therapy for all of this, it all sunk in then.

"Sam, I know it hurts. Trust me; I've been having issues too. It scarred all of us," I said gently. I put a hand on his arm and gave him my best positive smile.

"There's more. If the accident never happened and we made it home safely, I was going to tell her something very important. I-I was going to tell her how I felt about her, then I was going to ask her out." I stood there in shock for a minute. I had no idea Sam had felt that way about JJ. Once the shock was over, the sadness took over. Sam would never get to tell JJ how he really felt. Nothing could be sadder than that.

"Sam, I'm sorry. I think JJ would have been thrilled to hear you say though." Sam smiled and nodded.

"Thanks Max. Well I'm sorry for holding you up. I'm sure Ella, Fang and Nudge are waiting for you. I'll see you tomorrow." I grinned and walked back to where Fang was waiting for me. I guess we all had a lot of healing to do, and that we all dealt with it in different ways. I just hoped my heart healed soon, I don't think I could take another night of no sleep.


	10. Insomnia, more fights and school dances

**Me: Hiya everyone! I wanted to apologize again for my accidental reposting of the previous chapter. As soon as I found out I made that mistake I fixed it. So here's the next chapter, and of course, here's Iggy to give the disclaimer. **

**Iggy: How many more chapters do I have to do this? **

**Me: As many as I tell you to. Now say this disclaimer.**

**Iggy: Fine. Water Wolf 100 does not own the following characters: Max, Iggy (aka me), Fang, Nudge, Gazzy, Angel, Dylan, Lissa, JJ, Sam, Valencia, Jeb or Tess. All of us belong to James Patterson. Humph, I never had to do a disclaimer when I was with James Patterson. **

**Me: Well, he let me kidnap you so until this story is over you have to do what I tell you…so everyone pretty please read and review! Your reviews keep me writing, so if you want me to finish this story, review **

Chapter 10: Insomnia, more fights and school dances

Of course, as my luck would have it I got no sleep that night either. I had gotten into bed about ten but for a few hours I just lay there under my sheets. The minutes turned into hours and I still couldn't sleep. Once or twice I think I almost fell asleep but then I heard the sound of the crash and our screams and I woke up again.

"This is stupid," I muttered out loud. I had never felt so tired before so I decided to take drastic measures. As I climbed out of bed I looked over at my clock and saw that it was going on two in the morning. I tiptoed down to our bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet. "You have to be kidding me," I hissed when I saw that the sleeping pills I had been searching for were gone.

Giving up, I went back into my room and flopped down on my bed. I think it was around six when my body finally said enough and I literally passed out. I woke up the next morning to Ella screaming, "Max! Wake up! We have five minutes before we have to leave."

I looked up at her and groaned. "Ella, could you please not scream so loudly? I'm really tired," I said sleepily.

She looked at me with a puzzled face. "I wasn't yelling," she admitted. I then became aware of the pounding headache I was feeling. Ella's words rang through my head, making it scream in pain.

"I need some Tylenol," I grumbled. I made my way into the bathroom and was relieved to see that the familiar white bottle was sitting there. I put two of the little pills into my hand and poured myself a glass of water. Hopefully they would kick in quickly.

"Max, seriously we have to go like now," Ella pestered from the hallway. I sighed and quickly got ready. I put on the first clothes I could find. Which happened to be a pair of old basketball shorts and a homecoming t-shirt from freshman year so I looked like I was going to bed instead of school. "That's what you're wearing?" Ella asked, disgust lining her voice.

"Yep. Got a problem with it?" I snapped. Ella shook her head and walked out the door where Fang was waiting for us.

"Um Max, I know you go for the whole comfortable look, but isn't that pushing it?" Fang asked as I climbed into the front seat. I shot him a death glare and he didn't say another word until we got to school.

Iggy was waiting for us when we walked into the school. "Well good morning sunshine," he said when he saw me.

"For the sake of your physical well being, I'm going to pretend you didn't say that," I growled through clenched teeth. Iggy's eyes grew wide and he backed away from me. They all knew me well enough that when they saw I was in a bad mood it was best for them to stay away.

From the other end of the hallway I saw Dylan coming towards us. I hadn't seen him for a while and it was good to see that his leg was healing well. He didn't need the wheelchair anymore so he was hobbling around on crutches. "Hi Max! It feels like it's been forever since I've seen you," he said a little too cheerfully.

"Hey Dylan. Glad to see you mobile again," Iggy said. Dylan grinned and shifted the weight of his backpack onto his other shoulder. Before Dylan got to say anything, the bell rang and students began milling around towards their classes. Dylan and Fang gave us a small wave and Iggy and I headed upstairs to math.

As the day went on I realized the Tylenol wasn't working and my headache kept getting worse and worse. And along with my headache came a foul mood, everyone was too afraid to talk to me but that was just fine with me. Everyone's voices would drill into my brain, causing extreme pain. Suring lunch, I decided that I would sit in the library since it was quieter. "Max, wait up," I head Fang call from behind me. I stopped and waited for him to catch up. "Lissa texted me saying she needed help with a project."

"Whatever," I grumbled. All I wanted was a nice quiet to sit for a half hour. But Fang wasn't a big talker anyway so it didn't bug me too much. "What project?" I asked.

"Dunno, she didn't say," Fang replied with a shrug. We reached the library and automatically walked to the back. I sat down at the table and began rubbing my temples. My headache still wasn't going away and it was getting hard to concentrate on anything for very long. "Hey, doesn't that look like Iggy?" Fang asked. He pointed to one of the study room in the back of the library for people to work on projects and stuff and sure enough there was a boy in there that looked a lot like Iggy.

"I think it is Iggy," I said. "Check out the t-shirt. That's defiantly Iggy's. I would recognize his dinosaur t-shirt anywhere. It was bright green with a picture of a T-rex on the front and the tail wrapped around the side of the shirt and ended in the back. But what is he doing?" Iggy was standing facing the back wall and he seemed to be trembling.

"Let's go look," Fang suggested. I had a feeling this would be a bad idea but I stood up and followed Fang anyways. He opened the door but just stood there. I peaked around him to see what he was looking at and I almost did a double take. Standing against the wall-trying to push Iggy away, was Lissa.

"Fang! Thank goodness you're here," Lissa cried. She shoved Iggy away and ran into Fang's arms. Iggy stood there, confused.

"Lissa, why don't you go back to the cafeteria? I'll be there in a minute." Fang said slowly. There was venom in his voice and as he said each word. Lissa nodded then scooted her way out of the room and left the library.

"Dude, whatever you're thinking happened didn't happen," Iggy pleaded. Fang ignored him naturally. He walked up to Iggy, grabbed onto his shirt collar and pushed him against the wall.

"How dare you?" Fang spat. I stood there, unsure of what to do. I looked into Iggy's eyes and I knew that he was telling the truth. I didn't know how I was, but I was sure Iggy was innocent.

"Fang listen to me. This was Lissa's doing. You know I would never pull something like this. Messing with a friend's girlfriend is a line I will never cross," Iggy begged hopelessly. As I stood there, watching my two best friends fight, my head couldn't take it anymore. The noise was thundering, the lights were blinding, and nothing made sense to me. All I wanted was for it to go away. As I stood there, holding my head, I collapsed to the ground.

I didn't know what happened after that. The next thing I knew was that I woke up in a bed. It was my bed, but how did I get home? "Glad to see you're awake," someone said from the doorway. Ella was standing there, holding a tray with a bowl of ice cream on it. "Figured you might want something sweet to eat," she explained as she set the tray in front of me.

"What happened?" I asked as I poked at the ice cream. It was my favorite flavor, rocky road and Ella even remembered to add whipped cream to it.

"I don't really know. I was sitting in class when there was a call for me to go down to the nurse's office. When I got down there, Iggy and Fang were sitting there and they told me you had passes out."

"The fight. I think Iggy was set up by Lissa so that Fang would think Iggy was trying to steal her away from him. They were fighting, and then well I don't remember anything after that. How long have I been out?"

"Umm, about eight hours or so. Mom's at the hospital, she told me to take care of you when you woke up. That's the most sleep you've gotten in two days isn't it?" Ella sat down next to me and put her hand on top of mine.

I looked away from her, not wanting to admit the trouble I've been having. "Yeah. That first night, the day of the funeral, after you left I didn't get any more sleep. And last night I think I got another half hour or so."

"I heard you get up, what were you looking for?" Ella asked me.

"Sleeping pills. I was going to use them to help me fall asleep but we didn't have any so I didn't sleep. I guess an hour of sleep in forty eight hours time is enough to give someone a massive headache."

"Why didn't you say anything before? Mom would have let you stay home if you weren't feeling well." I sighed and headed back towards my room, Ella following closely.

"Because Mom would have thought I was losing my mind. I didn't tell you this, but the day of the funeral she suggested that I get therapy. If she heard I wasn't sleeping, I'd have to go see some quack and tell him or her about my problems and I don't feel like doing that. I sat down on my bed and began playing with my hair. Ella sat next to me and took my hand. She stared into my eyes and I wondered what she was thinking.

We sat there for a while, neither of us speaking. Then my phone rang. I got up and found my phone sitting on my desk. "Hello?" I asked when I answered it.

"Max, I didn't think you were going to answer. How are you feeling?" I was mildly surprised when I heard Dylan's voice on the other end of the line.

"Yeah I woke up a little while ago. I'm feeling a lot better now. What's up?"

"I just thought you might like an update on what went down after you passed out. Iggy gave me all the details." I mentally smacked myself when Dylan said Iggy; he was fighting with Fang right before I passed out. "You passed out, then Iggy and Fang rushed you to the nurse. Your mom brought you home, but after school is when things started to heat up. Fang was in a foul mood, and he and Iggy literally got into a fight. It was pretty ugly," Dylan told me.

"What?" I screamed. "Didn't anyone try to stop them?" I screeched into the phone.

"I did, but it didn't work. I got shoved into a trash can. I'm sorry Max; I wish I could have done more. The fight was pretty one sided though. Iggy refused to fight Fang, so mostly it was Fang wailing on him."

I stood there for a minute, dumbfounded. Things had been going well between me, Fang and Iggy. Now it was messed up again, and it was all Lissa's fault. She had something to do with it; Iggy would never betray his friend like that. Not in a million years. "Dylan, I'm going to have to get off the phone now. I need to talk to Iggy and figure out what really went down before the fight. I'll talk to you on Monday." I heard Dylan mumble a goodbye and I ended the call. I then typed Iggy's number and waited for him to pick up.

After about five rings it went into his voicemail and I groaned. I really needed to talk to Iggy and for the first time in his life, he didn't have his phone on him. "Ig, it's me," I said into the phone. "Dylan told me about the fight. Are you OK? Call me back soon, I really want to hear the full version of what happened. From even before Fang and I walked in. Call me back as soon as you get this message. By Ig." I hung up the phone, walked over to my bed and fell face-first into it.

"Iggy was in a fight?" Ella asked softly. I muddled out a groan through my pillows.

"I think I'm going to go back to bed. Maybe this whole day has been one big nightmare and if I go back to sleep everything will go back to normal. Ella sighed and got up from my bed. I listened to her footsteps as she crossed my room and shut the door.

My brain was too full of mush to have the nightmare, so for the first time in two days I was able to get a full night sleep and it felt wonderful. The next morning I woke up feeling better than I had in a long time. Then I remembered what happened yesterday. My bed was too comfortable to make me get up just then, so I simply just sat there and stared at the ceiling.

"Max? Are you awake? Someone's here to see you," Ella called from the other side of my door. I moaned and Ella took that as in 'come on in' and the door opened.

"You're still in bed? It's going on three already," someone said. I looked up to see Iggy standing in the doorway, a smirk pulling on his lips. For someone who had been in a fight the day before, he didn't look to bad. The only thing that was really obvious was a bruise starting to form on the side of his face. "I called you back this morning, but you didn't answer."

"Sorry, I was sleeping," I said sheepishly. I sat up higher in bed and grinned.

"Don't be. It's good to see you actually sleeping again," Iggy said cheerfully. I smiled and forced myself to get out of bed. I stood in front of Iggy, my head barley reaching his chin.

"Are you OK? I mean, the whole fight thing. Dylan said you refused to fight him," I asked. Iggy nodded and gave me a thumbs up.

"Yep," Iggy said with a cheerful grin. "I didn't fight back, but that doesn't mean I didn't let him beat the stuffing out of me either. Just some bruises that's all. I'm fine Max, don't worry." I smiled and wrapped my arms around him in a big hug. I made sure to be gentle, just he was sore from the fight.

"What about Lissa?" I asked after I let go. Iggy's happy smile vanished into thin air, leaving a scowl on his face.

"That girl is the devil. I was in the library studying when Lissa walked up to me and asked if I could help her with something. I followed her and when we got to the study room, she grabbed onto my shirt and sort of pulled me against the wall. And that was when you and Fang walked in. She planned the whole thing; she wanted Fang to catch us. She's up to something, but I don't know what."

The two of us spent the rest of the afternoon trying to think of ways we could get through to Fang that his girlfriend was insane. By five o'clock we still had nothing and Iggy's mom called him and said it was time for him to come home and eat dinner. After he left I went outside to sit on our deck. I glanced over at Fang and saw him in the pool with Nudge.

"Max! You want to come over for swimming?" Nudge yelled from the pool. I shook my head and Nudge pouted a little but continued to swim. Fang then climbed out of the pool and hopped the fence.

"Why was he here?" Fang asked sourly. He was talking about Iggy.

"Because he's my friend, he came to talk to me. Fang, Iggy was telling the truth. Lissa planned this whole thing, you have to believe me. You've known Iggy for years, and you know he would never do something like that."

"I don't buy it. Lissa was terrified out of her mind; no one could fake that kind of fear. Why are you siding with him? You saw the same thing I did."

"Because I trust Iggy. And it's too bad you don't. I can't believe things were finally starting to get back to normal between the three of us. I'll see you around Fang. Bye." I stood up and walked inside, not bothering to look back at Fang.

Weeks passed and Iggy and Fang didn't make up. It was just like before, Fang spent all his time with Lissa and ignored the two of us. August turned into September but there was no change in the weather. That was one thing I loved about living in California, it was warm all the time. Soon there was a buzz through the school about homecoming though I ignored it.

I wasn't big on dances so this year I told myself that I wasn't going to even go. I had been planning on sitting on my couch in my pajamas, eating popcorn and watching movies all night long. It drove Ella to insanity. "Max, why won't you go to Homecoming? It's your last one. Don't you want to make it the best one ever?" she asked me during dinner.

"Nope," I said popping the p. "I'm so done with high school dances. They're boring and overrated. I have a date with the couch that night." Ella was about to protest when I gave her a death glare. That shut her up.

Ella, for once, was actually not pushing me to do stuff I didn't want to do. I figured she was being nice to me after the whole insomnia thing and the fight between Iggy and Fang. I was grateful.

The weekend came quickly and even though I wasn't going to the dance I was excited because homecoming weekend the teachers never gave out homework. So I had the entire weekend to myself, to do whatever I wanted. The night of the dance Ella spent at least three hours in the bathroom getting ready.

Apparently she wanted to look exceptionally good for her date, some freshman boy I didn't even know. When she finally came out it was obvious why she was in there so long. Her long hair had been curled and was mostly pinned up in a messy bun with only a few strands hanging down to frame her face. A small diamond headband sat on top of her head and it sparkled in the light. Her makeup was simple but elegant. As for her dress, well, it was actually really pretty. It was a strapless sweetheart cut with an A-line skirt. The top was covered in sequins and a large greenish bow wrapped around her small waist and tied in the back. The only reason I knew what any of that stuff meant was because Ella explained it to me while we were looking at dresses the week before.

Her date, his name was Matt, stood in the entry way of our house. His jaw dropped when he saw her and he stared while she walked down the stairs. "You-you look great Ella," he finally said. Ella giggled and gave him a small hug.

"Thanks for taking me Matt," she said. I rolled my eyes and pretended to gag. Ella was so lucky our dad wasn't home, or else some blood might have been shed that night. "Well. Matt's mom is waiting for us. Have being home all alone and bored Max," Ella called as she and Matt walked out the door.

Once they were gone, I ran into the kitchen, put in a bag of popcorn and got ready for a fun relaxing night. Mom was at the hospital tonight so I had the house to myself. The timer rang on the microwave and I sat myself down on the couch and started watching John Tucked Must Die. Ella had gotten it for Christmas and I still hadn't seen it so I figured what the heck? Why not watch it? Turns out, it's actually a pretty good movie. When it was over I glanced up at the clock behind the TV, it was a little after ten. I still had about an hour before Ella came home from the dance.

This would have been one of those times where I would have called Iggy or Fang to do something with me, but Fang wasn't talking to me and Iggy was forced to baby-sit Gazzy and Angel. I was now stuck at home, bored and alone. I turned off the TV and simply sat in the darkness for a little while. I thought about how the past few weeks had been so stressful with Fang ignoring us and all. I guess sometime in my thinking process I fell asleep because the next thing I knew someone was shaking my shoulder. "What?" I ask groggily.

"Max, you fell asleep. Wake up, I have to tell you about the dance," I opened my eyes to see Ella standing above me.

"The dance is over already?" I asked as I sat up. I checked my phone to see that it was only ten fifteen, the dance was supposed to last until eleven.

"They called it off. A huge fight broke out and some kids had to be taken to the hospital. So the principal called off the whole thing." Ella sat down next to me and began to pull numerous bobby pins out of her hair. "I don't know who it was though; I think they were two junior boys."

I scoffed. The juniors at my school were pretty annoying, worse than some of the freshmen actually. "Did you have fun otherwise?" I asked.

Ella beamed up at me. "It was the most amazing night I've ever had. Oh, and guess who I saw. Dylan was there and he had a date. I was really surprised though because she didn't look like his type."

"Who was it? Do you know?"

"Tess," Ella replied simply. That one blew me away, of all people, why would Dylan go with Tess? I didn't even know that he knew her. I shook my head, trying to get rid of that mental image when the phone rang.

Ella reached over to the end table and picked up the phone. "Hello?" she asked. "Yes, she's here. May I ask who is calling?" Ella spoke into the phone. I knew the call was for me, but who would call me at ten fifteen on our house phone? "Excuse me?" Ella then yelled into the phone. She groaned and hung up the phone with a click.

"What was that all about?"

"Don't even ask. It was some prank caller; I'm not even sure who it was. When I asked for their name they said something in a foreign language. It was stupid, forget about it." I shrugged and got up off the couch. As I grabbed my popcorn bowl I tripped over Ella's heels that were lying in the middle of the floor. I ended up falling on my face and dropping the popcorn bowl. Un-popped kernels scattered all over the living room carpet and Ella began laughing hysterically.

"Ella, stop leaving your stuff in the middle of the floor," I growled. Ella didn't stop laughing and I picked myself up off the floor. I was halfway through finding all the popcorn kernels when the front door opened.

"Max? Did you trip?" my mom asked as she walked in the door. Ella began laughing harder, and ended up falling off the couch.

"No Mom, I didn't trip. I simply high fived the floor with my face," I replied irritably. Finding popcorn kernels was difficult and I was getting more and more irritated with each passing second. My mom shook her head and walked upstairs.

I finally finished, no thanks to Ella, and as I put the dishes in the dishwasher I realized how stressed I have been the past few weeks. I decided that I really needed a vacation. I needed one really badly.


	11. A vacation, sibling love and road trips!

**Me: I just thought I should let you all know that soon my regular posts will not be happening. Before I go this account I had all of the previous chapters written so I was able to post regularly, but now there are only two more chapters before you are all caught up and you will have to wait for me to write. And sadly, takes a lot of time because I am pretty busy with school work but I will work as often as I can and I should have more done by the end of next week I ask that you all be patient with me and I will post as soon as possible. So with my little speech done, here is Iggy to give the disclaimer. **

**Iggy: You all know how it goes. Water Wolf 100 doesn't own any of us. OK, I'm going to go take a nap now. See you all later. *Walks away***

Chapter 11: A vacation, sibling love and road trips!

Amazingly, my wish for a vacation was granted. Two weeks after the homecoming dance, the school announced that they would be putting on a senior class trip. Since there were a lot of people in our graduating class, this was a pretty big deal. "I wonder where we're going to go," Iggy wondered out loud during lunch.

"Not a clue," I muttered between bites of my sandwich. Sam and Dylan shrugged in agreement. The only one who didn't say anything was Tess. Since she was a junior she didn't get to go on the trip. I personally, was really bugged by her being there; she didn't fit in with the rest of us. Tess had become just as bad as Lissa and her peppy cheerleaders. I didn't dislike her, but I would have preferred it if she had stayed with her junior friends. Tess had began sitting with us after the homecoming dance and it was pretty obvious that she and Dylan were an item.

"Tess, you're in the student council. Do you know anything about it?" Dylan asked.

"Not really, the seniors have been planning it, so they didn't tell us anything important. And I won't be able to get any new info anyways, this is my last day in the council," Tess said. I wasn't that surprised, the old Tess would have stuck with the council, but this new Tess found it lame and un-cool.

"Hey guys, guess what! I just found out the location of the senior class trip," a girl named Hannah yelled to our table. I had been in a few classes with Hannah and she was an ok girl. Peppy, but not in the sickening way cheerleaders are. Iggy had helped her with her history paper last week so I guess she was repaying the debt. "We're going to Dodge Ridge!" Dodge Ridge was this really popular ski resort up in the Bay area; it was famous for its slopes.

"No way! That is so awesome, I love skiing," Dylan said excitedly. He began a conversation with Hannah about all the things they might be allowed to do on the trip. Sam shook his head and went back to his book. Knowing Sam, he wouldn't even go on the trip. Tess pulled her phone out of her pocket and began texting people. I was the only one who noticed Iggy stiffen up, his eyes wide with fear at the mention of the skiing resort. Discreetly I put my hand on his under the table and looked at him reassuringly.

During the end of the day announcements the principal announced that our trip will take place the last of November and our money and permission slips were due in exactly two weeks. It wasn't going to be a very long trip; we would all leave on Wednesday and leave Saturday afternoon. The entire senior class was in a buzz and I actually found myself getting excited for it. Even though I would have to spend seven hours on a bus filled with people in my class.

"What do you mean you're not going?" Dylan exclaimed. I looked over at him and saw that Dylan was staring at Sam with shock.

"Why would I waste my time with sports and other physical activities when I have so much work to do on my computer?" Sam said as if that was the most logical answer in the world. "I'm going to stay home and upgrade my firewall with a new program I wrote."

"You're such a nerd," Dylan retorted. He stuck out his tongue and Sam rolled his eyes and went back to his book. Hannah had left but Dylan wouldn't stop talking about the trip. "Are you going Max?" he asked.

"I think so. I just don't know if my mom will pay for it. The thing about trips through HP is that there is like no fundraising, so if you don't have the money to go, you can't. I'm not sure if my mom will be willing to pay the money for me to go," I told him. That was actually a big fat lie. Once my mom hears about the trip, she'll probably start packing my bags. She's really in to me being involved with my school. The only reason I wouldn't go would be because of Iggy. If he didn't go, neither would I.

"What about you Ig?" Dylan then asked. Iggy didn't say anything, he just shrugged. Before Dylan had the chance to interrogate him about it, the lunch bell rang.

After school that day I went home with Iggy to work on an English project. "So, what are you going to do when Dylan asks you about the trip again?" I asked while we glued pictures to our poster board.

"Don't really know. I do know that I don't want to go," Iggy said without looking up.

"Then don't go."

"I wish it was that simple. My mom is probably going to force me to go."

"Force who to go where?" Robin asked from the doorway. She stood there, looking at us while drying her hands on a dish cloth. "What's going on kids?"

"School trip," Iggy muttered. "They want to send us up to Dodge Ridge for a few days."

"Oh Iggy. You know you have to face it sooner or later. I think it would be a good idea for you to go. Plus, you're going to have all your friends with you. It might be good for you Honey," Robin said sweetly.

Iggy turned to me, a scowl on his face. "Told you," he whispered. "Mom, I really don't want to go on the trip. I would be OK with never seeing another mountain for the rest of my life." Slowly, Iggy's voice turned from normal volume to a yell.

"James Robert Cooper! We do not yell in this house," Robin exclaimed. "You're going to go on that trip. You can't be afraid for the rest of your life." With that, she turned around and walked back into the kitchen. Iggy groaned and fell forward so that he was lying on his stomach on the floor; his face buried in the carpet.

"It'll be ok Ig," I reassured. I thought I heard him muffle out a few profane words through the carpet but I wasn't sure. Eventually he got over his pout fest and we finished our poster. "Well I've got to go, my dad's home for the weekend so we're all going out to dinner," I said as I gathered up my stuff. I'll talk to you later." I walked out the door and got in my car and drove to meet my parents at our favorite restaurant in Maywood. It was this little Italian place about five blocks from my school. Their Alfredo was to die for and so were their breadsticks.

"There you are Max, they just called out table," Ella said when she saw me walk through the door. During dinner I told my parents about the trip and they said that I could go, if, I paid them back half of the money. After dinner I texted Iggy saying that was going to go on the trip too.

His response was short. All it said was 'great' and there was a capital X and D together to make a little dead face. Ella gushed over what I could wear on the trip the entire ride home but I tuned her out after about thirty seconds. Since I finished all my homework at Iggy's house I had the rest of the evening to do whatever I wanted. Naturally, I watched TV. That soon got boring so I went to go sit outside and read a book.

While I was out there, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Fang's car pull into his driveway. Not that I cared or anything, he still wasn't talking to us so I had no desire to talk to him. To my huge surprise instead of going inside his house, Fang opened the gate to my yard and walked over to where I was sitting.

He stood there for a minute before he finally said, "Hey."

"You have quite the vocabulary there," I grumbled back. I set my bookmark inside my book and placed it on the table. "What do you want Fang?"

"Are you going on the trip?"

"So what if I am?"

"I was just wondering. Iggy going?"

"Yeah. And Fang, don't do anything to make him more upset. He already doesn't want to go. His mom thinks this will be good for him so I would appreciate it if you didn't get into another fight with him," I told him.

"Wouldn't dream of it." I nodded and then picked my book back up, hoping Fang would get the message that I didn't feel like talking to him. After a few seconds, he walked away and I was able to enjoy the rest of my evening in peace. As I sat there reading, my mind kept drifting to Iggy, I was worried about how he would be on the trip. I wished there was something I could do for him, but I didn't know how to help him get over his greatest fear.

Iggy POV

I wanted this day to be over. Nothing had gone right and all I wanted to do was crawl into my bed and die. I couldn't believe my mom didn't give me a choice to go on the ski trip or not. She thinks it will be good for me, yeah right. I guess it could be worse, at least Max will be there. She understands how I feel about skiing and about mountains in general. "Iggy? Why were you so quiet during dinner?" Angel asked from the foot of my bed. I looked up to see her standing there with a worried expression on her face.

"It's nothing Ange. I just have a lot on my mind," I told her.

"Is it because of the fight you had with Mommy?" Man, this kid picks up on everything. I didn't even know she could hear us from her room; I was so sure she had been upstairs playing with her dolls. "Are you and Mommy mad at each other?"

"No Angel, not at all. It's just Mom wants me to go on a trip with my school and I don't really want to," I said. I tried to explain it as simply as I could but she was only five so she was still confused easily. I sat up on my bed and leaned against the wall watching Angel. She crawled up onto my bed and nestled up right next to me, with my arm around her shoulders.

"Where are you going Iggy? What's so bad about going somewhere with your school?" How could I explain my greatest fear to a five year old? She was barely two when I first got this fear so there was no way she could remember it. I drifted my eyes across my room and the settled on a picture on my desk. Angel noticed me staring at it I suppose because she then asked, "Is it about Daddy?" My eyes instantly snapped back down to Angel, her eyes full with curiosity.

"What makes you think that Ange?"

"You were staring at the picture of you and Daddy. So I guessed." Man, for five years old this kid was smart. Though I shouldn't be surprised, my mom said she took after my dad.

"Yeah Angel, it has to do with Daddy," I said. I felt bad for her; she had the least amount of time with my dad. Gazzy had four years to know him and he at least remembered what he was like, and I had most of my life with him.

"Are you going to be ok Iggy? I don't want you to bed sad anymore, you've been sad for way to long." I smiled down at her and stroked her hair. Angel had a big heart, that's one reason I loved her so much. She then sat up on her knees and gave me a wet kiss on the cheek. "I love you Iggy," she whispered. Angel then crawled off of my bed and left my room.

Max POV

The day for the ski trip couldn't come fast enough. Ella had spent a week helping me buy clothes to wear and helping me pack and I was losing my mind. At long last that glorious morning came and I woke up feeling pretty excited. My mom took the day off of work so she could come with me to the school to say good-bye. "Max, are you ready to go?" Ella called from the bottom of the stairs. I took one last glance at my room, making sure I didn't leave anything crucial behind and turned off my light.

I managed to fit all of my stuff in one suitcase so with ease I wheeled it down the stairs. I had my phone, IPod, a book and an assortment of snacks in a small tote bag that Ella had lent me. "Time to go girls, you don't want to be late do you?" My mom asked. The chaperones wanted us at the school at six thirty so they could check our bags in time for our sever thirty o'clock departure time.

For once my school wasn't cheap and paid for charter busses. It was a seven hour ride to the mountain and I was glad we didn't have to spend it cooped in a smelly school bus. I figured the ride itself would be pretty relaxing so I wore sweatpants and a t-shirt. I didn't feel like dealing with a coat on the bus since I wouldn't need it until we got to the resort so I packed it in my bag.

As my mom pulled into the school I instantly spotted Iggy and his family. Angel was clinging onto Iggy's waist, as if she was trying to keep him from leaving. My mom parked the car and I got my suitcase out from the trunk and wheeled it over to where Iggy was standing. "Hey Ig!" I called. "Hi Robin, Gazzy, Angel," I waved to each member of Iggy's family. My mom and Ella came over and Ella gave both Gazzy and Angel a big hug and my mom started talking to Robin about the itinerary for the trip.

Iggy looked like he was going to die, but he had looked like that all week. I knew he was dreading this trip but I was proud of him to be going on it. We were dressed similarly, Iggy had on sweat pants and a t-shirt as well but he had an old basketball sweatshirt tied around his waist. We stood there, talking as more and more people began to show up. Dylan came and stood next to us, excitement pouring from him. "I can't believe the day has come. I've been looking forward to this trip for weeks. You know, I can't even remember the last time I went snowboarding. I think I was in the eighth grade, or was it seventh?" Dylan rambled on and on. I tried to listen but it was too early in the morning for me to focus on anything.

Our mom's decided they had to go so we said good-bye and watched as they walked towards their cars. Angel took forever saying good-bye to Iggy and eventually Robin had to pick her up and carry her away. Ella had left a while before that so she could make it to her class on time. The busses came and eventually, we were allowed to get on the bus and as the first kids to arrive, Iggy and I got first choice of seats. We headed straight towards the back of the bus and sat down about four rows from the last one. I took the window seat and Iggy sat next to me. Dylan picked the seat in front of me and turned to talk more about how excited he was.

An eternity passed, but finally we were on the road. Dylan was talking to some guy he knew from his science class and Iggy was staring into space at the seat ahead of him. There were only a few kids in the seat behind us, and no one directly behind me so I didn't have to worry about getting kicked. "Hey Ig, wanna' listen?" I asked holding out my ear bud. Iggy flashed a microscopic smile and took the ear bud. I played the first song and his smile vanished and a frown replaced it.

"Really? This song? Why do you hate me?" Iggy exclaimed. I grinned evilly and turned up the music, soon the sounds of Break your heart filled my eardrums. "I think I'm going to be sick," Iggy grumbled. He ripped my IPod out of my hand and began scrolling through my songs. "There, this is good music," he finally said.

"I came to dance, dance, dance, dance. I hit the floor. Cause that's my plans, plans, plans, plans," Iggy began singing. I laughed and stared out the window while Iggy made a fool out of himself; at least he was having fun. About a half hour into the trip I fell asleep listening to 'Hey Soul Sister'. I eventually woke up to a clicking sound. I opened my eyes to see Dylan and the boy he was sitting next to him taking pictures with a digital camera.

"Good morning sleepy head," Dylan piped cheerfully. "Did you two have a nice nap?" I glanced over at Iggy to see that he was asleep too. "You two look pretty cute when you're sleeping. Look." Dylan handed me his camera and the picture I saw made my blood boil. That idiot had taken a picture of us while we were sleeping. I was resting my head against Iggy's shoulder and he had his head on top of mine.

"Delete it," I growled. The last thing I needed was a picture like that roaming around the senior class; it made it look like we were a couple. I didn't think of Iggy like that, he was more like my brother then anything.

"Fine. Party pooper," Dylan grumbled as he deleted the picture. Iggy then decided to wake up and he looked at the two of us with a confused look on his face.

A while later we stopped in a town called Los Banos for lunch. They gave us the choice between going to McDonalds or Carl's Jr. Iggy and I made a b-line for the McDonalds, we were both starving and I had a craving for chicken nuggets. I didn't see Dylan anywhere so I figured he went to the Carl's Jr. The line was so long that by the time Iggy and I got our food it was time to leave so we had to eat on the bus. "Well, two hours to go," Iggy said solemnly. I rolled my eyes and punched him lightly in the arm.

"Come on Ig, cheer up a little. You don't have to go actually get on the mountain if you don't want to. You could sit in the lodge all day if you wanted to. I know you don't like mountains but try to make the best of it. Please?" I pleaded. I gave him my best puppy dog face, it was irresistible.

"Only for you Max," he finally said. The level of excitement rose on the bus when people began to see the snow on the peak of the mountain. We began the long windy path up to the peak and slowly the green around us was replaced with white. I saw frost begin forming on the windows and I realized how cold it must be outside.

"Attention students!" one of the chaperones said from the intercom system at the front of the bus. "It has been brought to my attention that there is a fluid leak underneath the bus so until it can be identified and resolved we will be forced to stop the bus." There was a collective groan from the entire bus as the drive pulled over onto the curb of the narrow road.

"Attention, as protocol calls I must ask you all to exit the bus in an orderly fashion," the driver said into the intercom. Yet another round of groans and protests rang throughout the bus. Slowly, everyone gathered up their stuff, most people grabbing jackets from the overhead compartments. I now felt really stupid for not bringing my coat on the bus with me. I wasn't planning on this happening.

We got out of the bus and I was greeted by a blast of frigid air. The weather up here had to be about forty degrees, and to a girl that had lived in LA her whole life; this place was freezing! All around me there were people standing in their jackets and sweatshirts, all trying to stay warm. One or two people had been stupid like me and didn't bring a jacket on the bus with them. "Cold out isn't it?" Dylan asked coming up next to me. I nodded and chattered my teeth; I was too cold to even respond. I briskly rubbed my arms to try and put some warmth into them but it didn't work.

I stood closer to Iggy, trying to steal some of his body heat. A strong gust of wind blew, making it even colder. I was convinced I was going to freeze to death before we even got to the resort. Iggy saw me shivering and looked down at me. "Here," he said. He pulled off his sweatshirt and handed it to me.

"Won't you be cold then?" I asked him.

"I'm used to it, remember? This isn't my first time to the mountains. Now just take the dang sweatshirt!" I silently nodded and took it from his hand. As I slipped the warm fabric over my freezing body I was instantly warmer. Since Iggy is so much taller than me, it was gigantic on me. The sleeves covered my hands and then some but I didn't mind. It kept my hands warm.

We stood out there for quite a while; some students gave up standing and were sitting down on small rocks that stuck out of the ground. I glanced at my phone and realized we were supposed to be at the resort a half hour ago. It was going on three and soon the sun would begin to set and it would get even colder out. The raging wind around us didn't help either so I huddled closer to Iggy, trying to use him as a windbreaker.

"I officially hate the cold," I said between teeth chatters.

"Here," Iggy said softly. He wrapped his long arms around me, enveloping me in a blanket of warmness. I wanted to stand there forever, warm and safe in Iggy's arms. I thought that and almost smacked myself in the face. What was I thinking?

"OK kids, problem solved. Let's get to the ski lodge!" the chaperone called and everyone cheered. There was a stampede to get back onto the nice warm bus. As my luck would have it, I was one of the last ones to get on the bus so I had to inch my way down the center aisle past all the cold students.

I fell back into my seat, glad to be out of the cold. Once I got my suitcase back I was putting my coat on and I wasn't going to take it off until I get back to LA. "All better?" Iggy asked with a sweet smile. I nodded but as I did another chill went up my spine and I shivered.

"I can't wait to get my coat back on," I said with a laugh as the bus lurched forward. "Oh, here's your sweatshirt," I said. I started to pull it off but Iggy grabbed my arm.

"Keep it until you get your coat. That way you won't freeze between the bus and the lodge. I grinned and turned my face towards the window. I have no idea why, but I began to feel my face flush. Why on earth was I blushing about what Iggy said to me? He's just being nice, that's all. He's my best friend, that's all. I kept telling myself that over and over. I don't know where this was coming from, and to be honest I was freaking out.

Forty-five minutes later we pulled into the parking lot of the ski lodge and our chaperone went through this long list of rules that we were expected to follow and when we were all supposed to meet up for dinner. The other four busses of kids had been here for a while so we didn't get as much exploring time as they did before dinner.

The name of our resort was actually Pinecrest Lake resort but it was the closest to the ski lifts so we had to stay there. The lodge itself was not very big. It was designed to resemble an old fashioned log cabin and there was a large porch on the front of it. Students began filling off of the bus, each one stopping to get their room number. I was in room fourteen, on the first floor. Iggy was one floor above me in room twenty-three. I found my suitcase easily enough-it was the only one with black flowers drawn on it with Sharpie.

As soon as it was in my hands, I ripped it open and found my nice warm jacket. I had to buy it when I found out about the trip since kids in LA didn't need winter coats and I had no idea what I was going to do with it when the trip was over. But, I pushed all those thoughts from my head and pulled it on. Now that I had a coat on, I didn't feel cold anymore.

"Max, I'm going to go check out my room really fast. I'll meet you at the front door in ten!" Iggy called to me. I nodded and waved. As I pulled my suitcase down the stone path my mind began to wander to who my roommates were going to be. For a brief moment I feared that Lissa might be one of them. When I reached my room I heard the muffled sound of Ridin' Solo from the other side of the door. Well, at least whoever it was had good taste in music. I turned the key and opened the door.

"Hi Max!" the two girls said happily. I knew both of them, Alyssa Andres and Kelsey Green were dancing in the middle of the room to the music. I didn't know Alyssa very well at all but I knew that Kelsey used to be in track with JJ. She was pretty cool, the sporty type. She had gotten along with JJ really well.

"You two look like you're having fun," I said as I set down my suitcase. Alyssa turned off the radio and fell backwards onto the bed.

"This trip is going to be so awesome. I can't wait to go snowboarding," she said dreamily. "Some of the cutest guys in the world are snowboarders and I get to share the slopes with them." I laughed along with Kelsey and began putting some of my stuff away. I figured that it was only going to be the three of us, but I was wrong. I had just finished putting my stuff away when the door opened again.

"You're in my room?" a high pitched voice asked. I cringed as I turned to face the person who ruined my good mood.

"Lissa," I hissed. At that moment, I hated my life. I had to spend three days in the same room as the she-devil.

"Where's that boyfriend of yours?" Lissa asked mockingly. I clenched my fist, trying to cool my nerves. I wasn't going to let Lissa ruin my day, nor was I going to let her get to me with her comments on my life.

"Where's yours?" I asked backed. Lissa glared at me but I didn't back down. Kelsey and Alyssa had grown silent and they stared back and forth between us, as if they were afraid we'd get into a fist fight or something. I rolled my eyes and marched past Lissa, purposely smacking into her shoulder. I went down to the main lobby and found Iggy sitting on a couch in front of the fire place. "Here's your sweatshirt," I said as I took a seat next to him. Iggy took it back, smiled at me and then turned back to the fire.

"Max, I don't think I'm ready for this. It's just too soon," he whispered. I felt bad for him, so I did the only thing I could do to comfort him. I wrapped my arms around one of his arms and sat close to him, letting him know that I was there for him. We sat there for a while, neither of us speaking.

"Hey Max!" Dylan called from the other side of the room. I looked up at him and saw him beckoning me to come over. I looked back at Iggy who nodded. Before I stood up, I squeezed his hand and gave him a small smile.

"What's up Dylan?" I asked as we walked outside into the cold air.

"I was wondering if you could tell me what's up with Iggy." I stopped for a minute, unsure of what to do. I didn't know if Iggy would want me to tell anyone but then I thought that maybe Dylan would have an idea of how to help him.

"Ok, I'll tell you. But you have to promise to never tell anyone. Especially don't mention it in front of Ig," I said. We continued walking and I began to share the story.


	12. Of Confessions and fears

**Me: I think I have tortured you all long enough throughout this story. Here's Iggy with a disclaimer. **

**Iggy: The characters in this story don't belong to Water Wolf 100. **

**Me: Don't forget to review and tell me what you think of the chapter. It took me a really long time to write it.**

Chapter 12: Of confessions and fears and betrayals

"The truth is," I began. "Is that Iggy is terrified of mountains."

"But how-," Dylan began to protest. I held up my hand to shut him up.

"Don't interrupt. For as long as I've known Iggy, his family would always take a trip up into the mountains to go skiing and snowboarding. It used to be him, his mom and his dad, Robert. Then Gazzy was born and they introduced him to winter sports at a young age, then Angel joined their family. Winter sports were a big thing with Iggy's dad, he grew up in the mountains so he's been skiing and snowboarding all his life.

"Three years ago, when Iggy was fifteen, they took their annual trip into the mountains. Everything had gone smoothly, they had a great time. Gazzy, who was only four at the time, tried skiing down a little bunny slope by himself for the first time. Angel was only two, so she stayed with Robin in the lodge most of the time. Their last day, Iggy and his dad wanted to get in one last run. They went up to the top of the mountain and decided to go down one of the expert trails.

"Somewhere on the trail, about halfway down, something went wrong. No one knows the real cause, but Robert somehow fell. Iggy thinks that his ski got caught on something hidden in the snow. Well, Robert went flying, and crashed into the snow. Iggy stopped and ran over to his dad, but by then it was too late. When he fell, his neck broke. Iggy called the ski patrol and they rushed him to the hospital, but he was gone by the time they got there. Iggy watched his father die. Ever since, he's been terrified of mountains and vowed to never touch a ski or snowboard ever again." I finished my story and Dylan's mouth was in a perfect O.

We had walked the perimeter of the building and were now standing back by the front door. Iggy was still sitting in front of the fireplace, staring off into space. "What about Gazzy and Angel? Do they still like mountains?" Dylan asked softly. I shook my head.

"Gazzy is pretty freaked by them. He was too scared after losing his dad to try anything but bunny slopes and Angel was too young to remember her dad. She's seen pictures of him and stuff, but she can't remember anything about him. She's never even been skiing before." Dylan looked down at his shoes and shook some of the snow off of his boot. "I'm still trying to think of a way to help Iggy be less afraid. I don't care if he hates skiing or anything like that, but I hate to see him so afraid of it."

"Well, I don't know. You're his best friend, if you can't think of anything to get him over it I guess there isn't anything. Hey, I've got to go change for dinner so I'll see you later," Dylan said. He waved and ran inside the lodge. I followed him but then sat back down next to Iggy.

"You told him didn't you?" he asked as I sat down.

"I'm sorry. He asked and I just couldn't say no. Are you mad at me?" I asked. Iggy looked up at me and gave a glimpse of a smile.

"I could never be mad at you," he said. "So, when's dinner?" I blinked a few times then began to laugh.

"Now. Come on, if we hurry we can get a good table." I pulled on Iggy's arm and dragged him down the hallway to the dining room restaurant thing. There were a few people in there already, two of them being Fang and Lissa. Lissa smirked when she saw us, but Fang glanced up with a look of understanding in his eyes. I guess he was going to keep to his word.

We found a table for four people and sat down, figuring Dylan would sit with us in a little bit. "So, who are your roommates?" Iggy asked while we glanced at the menu.

"Kelsey Green, Alyssa Andres and Lissa," I said. I said Lissa's name with as much hatred as I could muster. "I've come to a conclusion. Lissa is part parasite; she's always there, right under my skin making my life miserable." Iggy looked from me, to Lissa and back to me again. He then started to laugh. "What's so funny?" I asked.

"You," he sputtered out between laughs. I stared at him, he finally lost it. Iggy has finally snapped this was an important day in history.

"What's going on?" Dylan asked as he came up to our table. Iggy and I looked at each other then both of us started laughing. Dylan shook his head and began reading the menu. Some waiter came by and took our orders then came back quickly with our food. It was hot and delicious, just the perfect thing to eat when I was freezing cold.

After dinner everyone went off to do their own thing, I sat by the fireplace with Iggy and Dylan playing cards. At ten thirty the chaperones went around saying it was time for everyone to return to their rooms. I said good-night to my friends and went down the hall into my room. Alyssa was already there-but she was asleep. I heard the sound of a shower going and heard the sound of Kelsey singing.

When Kelsey got out of the shower I hopped in really quickly and was out of the bathroom within ten minutes. I could take really fast showers if I wanted to. Lissa was there when I got out and she sat there and stared at me as I pulled my hair up into a messy bun. "So, what's the deal with you and Iggy?" she asked after a few minutes. I eyed her in the mirror; she was sitting cross-legged on the bed staring at me intently.

"Excuse me?" I asked as I turned to face her.

"Are you two secretly dating or not?"

"Not. Iggy is my best friend, that's all."

"Then why do I have this?" Lissa held out her phone to show me a picture on the screen. It was from when we were standing outside the bus, waiting for it to be repaired. The picture showed me wearing Iggy's sweatshirt and his arms wrapped tightly around me. One of Lissa's friends must have taken it and sent it to her.

I took the phone out of Lissa's hand and deleted the picture. As I handed it back to her I smirked. "It's not nice to take pictures of people without permission. Tell that to whoever took that." Without another word I sat down on the bed and pulled the sheets up over me. Kelsey was my hero, because she didn't go to sleep in the same bed as Alyssa so I didn't have to sleep in the same bed as Lissa. I sat in bed and read until out chaperone came in to give us the light out.

Lissa turned off the lamp and we all quickly fell asleep. The next morning the phone in our room rang and I reached over and picked it up. "Hello?" I asked. I quickly glanced at the clock and saw that it was going on ten already.

"Max? Time to get up! Today we hit the slopes!" a perky voice said from the other end of the line. Dylan. I mumbled some incoherent words and hung up the phone. Then, I rolled over and fell back asleep.

"Good morning roomies!" Lissa's voice called out. Great just what I needed another morning person. How does Fang deal with her? Lissa then committed her final act of life. She turned on the light. I sprang out of bed, eyes raging. No one turns the light on when I'm sleeping, unless they have a death wish.

"You do that again," I hissed. "You will wake up very alone, very sore, and very far away from home." Lissa's eyes grew wide for a moment but then returned to their normal icy glare.

"You don't scare me," she said slowly.

"Mistake number one." I smirked and walked into the bathroom to get ready for the day. I didn't know what I was going to do today since I didn't know how to ski or snowboard and I didn't want to leave Iggy alone in the lodge anyways. I figured I'd do whatever he wanted to do. I got dressed in a pair of jeans with long underwear on under them, a long sleeved t-shirt and a hoodie over it. I carried my winter coat, gloves and hat and I walked out of the room. I found Iggy and Dylan sitting in the dining area eating their way through a plate of muffins.

"Hey, Max. Want one?" Dylan asked. He held up a blueberry muffin to me and I took it without question. I never question when people hand me muffins. With my help, we were able to devour the entire plate of muffins. "So what's the plan for today?" Dylan asked when we were done.

"Well, I'm going to hang out here. You two can do whatever you want," Iggy said as he stood up. Before I could protest, he was out of the room and I was left alone with Dylan.

"Come on Max. Let's go! I can't wait to snowboard!" Dylan grabbed me by the arm and dragged me out of the resort and towards the ski lifts.

I dug my heels into the ground and we both stopped. "Dylan, I don't know how to snowboard. I've never tired before," I explained.

"Well, I'll teach you. Come on, let's go get out gear. Part of our payment for the trip included the cost of ski/snowboard rental and gear fitting. Dylan and I walked into the ski shop where a young lady with red hair greeted us.

"So, what can I get for you guys?" she asked as we walked in the shop.

"I just need a snowboard and the boots but my friend here needs everything," Dylan explained. It was then that I noticed that Dylan was wearing snowboarding gear, down to the goggles.

The lady whose name was Katy; helped me get fitted with propped snowboarding gear which included- a pair of pants with suspenders on them, goggles, special gloves that kept moisture out, boots, a helmet and an actual snowboard. When we were all done; Dylan led me towards the bunny slopes. "Snowboarding is pretty simple. To start you push down with your front foot to get your balance. Then just lean whatever way you want to turn. To stop you just switch your weight to your heels and lean backwards. Don't lean back too far or else you'll fall on your butt, but you do have to lean back a little bit to slow down. You got that?"

I stared at him dumbfounded. I had no idea what he just said, it might as well been in pig Latin. "Not really," I said.

"Just put weight on your front foot to go forward and lean back to stop. And don't fall," he said irritably. I rolled my eyes but he couldn't see through the goggles. He helped me get strapped into the snowboard and helped me push off. As I started going down the hill, I felt like I was flying. It was amazing, and then as usual, I fell. As I sat up, I began brushing snow from my face. This was going to be a long day, I just knew it.

Dylan and I spent the next three hours on the bunny slopes and I only improved a little bit. I was able to make it down to the bottom without falling. Around noon Dylan decided that I was ready for a real slope. "I don't know Dylan. I think I'd do better down here, you go up to the real slopes," I tried to convince. Dylan naturally wouldn't hear of it. Together we rode up the ski lift and stood at the top of one of the beginner courses. As I stood up there, looking over the mountain-side I couldn't believe how high up we were.

"Let's do this!" Dylan cheered. He leaned forward and sped off down the slope. I stood up there, alone, for a few minutes. I looked over the slope, since it was a beginner it didn't have to many obstacles. It was a gentle downgrade but near the bottom there was a turn I would have to make. Hopefully I could do that without falling on my butt. Following Dylan's teaching, I leaned forward onto my snowboard and began falling forward. This hill was a lot steeper then the little bunny slopes I had been practicing on. As I neared the curve, I leaned my body to the right slightly and much to my surprise I began turning right. I was actually doing it! I, Maximum Ride was snowboarding! As I neared the end of the bed a flash of color caught my eye. Something wearing a red and yellow coat was lying in the middle of the hill. As I looked closer I realized it was Dylan. "Dylan!" I screamed. I turned sideways and skidded to a stop a few yards away from him. As quickly as I could I unstrapped my feet from the snowboard and ran over to him. "What happened? Are you OK?" I asked as I fell into the snow next to him.

His snowboard was lying in two pieces next to him and he was clutching his leg in pain. "I wiped out and I hurt my knee. It won't move," Dylan groaned through clenched teeth. His eyes were squeezed shut and his normal happy smile was now a grimace of pain.

"Come on. Let's get you off the mountain and back to the ski shop," I said. I helped him to his feet and we slowly made our way down the mountain. Most of Dylan's weight was leaned against me and this made it particularly difficult to walk down a slippery mountain hill. "We're almost there." I grunted out as we reached the bottom of the hill. I was tired and helping Dylan down the hill was really hard. I flung the door to the ski shop open and several heads turned to us when we walked in.

Katy ran over to us and helped take some of Dylan's weight off my shoulders. Together we set him down in a wooden chair in the back corner of the shop. "What happened out there?" Katy asked.

"I leaned too far right when making the bend and whipped out. I think I dislocated my knee. It won't move," Dylan said as he rubbed his knee gently. Katy crouched down on her knees and tried to carefully bed Dylan's knee. He yelped in pain and jerked his leg back.

"You definitely moved your knee, but I'm not sure if it's a full dislocation. You two are with that group from LA right?" Katy asked as she stood up. We both nodded and Katy went back to the counter and pulled out a sheet of paper. There was a phone on the wall behind the counter and she dialed a phone number and began talking quietly into the receiver.

When she hung up, Katy walked back over to us and smiled. She said, "I just got off the phone with your chaperone. He's going to come here and pick you two up. Then he'll get that knee checked out for you." With a sympatric smile, Katy walked away to go help some new costumers.

"Dylan I'm really sorry. This is going to ruin the rest of your trip," I said after a few seconds.

"It's not that bad. I'll just hang out at the lodge until we go home. But who's going to be your slope buddy now?" I scoffed and shook my head.

"I'm not going back up there. Nope, from now on Maximum Ride stays at the bottom of the mountains. I'll just hang out with you and Iggy until we leave. It'll be relaxing," I said with a grin. Our head chaperone, Paul then walked into the shop and sighed in relief.

"Dylan, I'm going to take you to the doctor's office. Max, you're going to have to walk back to the lodge on your own. Come on, Dylan." Paul then lifted Dylan to his feet and helped him out of the shop and into a car parked just outside. I waved good-bye to Katy and started the walk back to the lodge.

As the building came into view, I noticed that a light snowfall was starting. I had never stood in snow before so I stopped and tilted my head back and let the flakes fall on my face. It tickled as they got caught in my eyelashes and I let out a small giggle. "I didn't even know you could giggle," a voice said in surprise. I was so startled I spun around too quickly and ended up falling on my butt in a snow bank. "Well that was a fail," the person said again. Through my snow covered eyes, I saw Iggy standing a few feet away. A smirk was painted on his face and I knew he was trying hard not to laugh.

"So I'm not allowed to be a girl every once in a while without someone making a big deal out of it?" I huffed. I was trying to brush snow off of my coat, but it was so wet and sticky it didn't want to come off. Iggy shrugged and walked over to me. He extended a hand to life me up and I took it. But me, being the revenge filled person I am, pulled Iggy down face first into the snow. "Hey Ig, you have something on your face," I said with a huge smirk on my face.

"You're so dead," Iggy muttered as he lifted himself out of the snow. His eyes were filled with a mischievous twinkle and there was an evil grin on his face. I knew this couldn't end well so I sprang up and ran through the snow as fast as I could. As my luck would have it, that wasn't very fast. I felt a something heavy hit me in the back and I fell back into the snow. As I squirmed in the snow, I managed to break out of Iggy's iron grip. He yelped as I pushed him over in the snow and tried to pin him down.

Eventually I managed to get him flat on his back while I sat happily on his stomach. No matter how hard he tried, Iggy couldn't get up. I felt very accomplished at my triumph. Eventually Iggy gave up and fell back in the snow and stared at the sky as the snowflakes fell from the sky. A wave of exhaustion crashed over me and I got off of Iggy's stomach and fell back into the snow beside him. "That was really fun," I panted.

"Oh yeah. So, how was snowboarding?" Iggy asked, turning to face me.

"I fell on my butt most of the time. But, Dylan then decided that I was ready to try a real hill. It was pretty terrifying actually. About halfway down though, Dylan whipped out and hurt his knee. Rob is taking him to the doctor now. I was on my way back from the ski shop when you scared me."

"Well that sucks," Iggy replied after a minute. I rolled my eyes and playfully punched him in the arm. No duh it sucked! "Hey, I'm just making an observation. Snowboarding is dangerous, you have to be careful. Getting cocky is what will get you hurt, that and not paying attention."

"Well, you don't have to worry about me getting hurt on a snowboard. I'm never getting on one of those things ever again," I said.

Iggy's face turned into a soft smile and he whispered, "Good." The two of us sat there for a while, looking at the falling snow. It dawned on me that it was getting late in the afternoon and that I was cold and tired and wanted nothing more to do then go inside and drink hot chocolate.

I sat up in the snow and began shaking snow out of my hair and off of my coat. There seemed to be snow everywhere on me, and most of it was in the hood of my coat. Some of the snow fell out of my hood and slid down my back making me shiver. "You ok?" Iggy asked me. I nodded but shivered again. There was a ton of snow down my back and I was freezing. Realizing there was no way for me to get all the snow out of my coat the way I was doing it now, I simply took off my coat and tried to brush the snow out of it that way.

"You know, I don't really understand the point of this snow stuff. All it does is make people cold. What's so great about that?" I grumbled. Iggy smirked and stood up. He took my coat out of my hands and in one swift movement shook all of the snow out of my coat. "Show off," I mumbled under my breath. Iggy smiled as he draped my coat back over my shoulders and watched as I shoved my hands in the sleeves.

"All better?" he asked.

"A little. It's still freezing cold out though," I said through chattering teeth. Iggy wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close to him, I felt a lot warmer instantly. I loved Iggy's hugs, they were just so amazing. No! There I go again. What is going on with me? Why am I feeling things about Iggy this way? He let go of me and started to walk back to the lodge.

"You coming?" he asked. I looked at him standing there, there was still snow all over him, and his hair was wet and all plastered to his face. I never noticed before, how cute Iggy really was. Not again! Shoving all my thoughts into a shoe box I jogged up to Iggy and the two of us walked back into the lodge, laughing and talking like we always did. But, somewhere deep inside me was this burning question that I needed to know the answer to. Was I falling for Iggy?

Later on that evening, after I had showered and put on dry clothes, I was walking down the hall to hear yelling from one of the lounge rooms. As I passed a door, it was thrown open and someone stormed out. "Max, you're friends with Dylan. Do something about him," the boy yelled. The boy's name was Anthony Hill; he was in gym with me and Dylan.

"What's wrong?" I asked. Whatever those two were fighting about it must have been big because they were pretty loud and Anthony seemed really peeved.

"He's being an idiot that's what's wrong! He came back from the doctor's all drugged up on something and he's totally out of it. I can't even be around him right now," Anthony yelled. Without waiting for me to respond, he began walking down the hall yelling the whole time. I wasn't sure if I should go talk to Dylan or not. If he could make normal, calm Anthony boil over in rage, Dylan had to be pretty bad. But, he was my friend so I knew I had to help.

"Dylan? What's going on?" I asked as I walked in the lounge. It was one of the smaller lounges. It only had two couches and a small fireplace. But there was a card table set up with a chess set and a few decks of cards sitting on it. Dylan was sitting on one of the couches staring into the fire.

"Hi Max," Dylan said, or tried to say. Whatever drug he was on, it was slurring his speech horribly. I sat down next to him, trying to not move his injured leg. "My leg's not dislocated. I just twisted some nerve thing. They gave me some sort of meds," he continued.

"Well I'm glad to see your ok. What do you think Tess will say when she finds out? She warned you to be careful on the slopes," I said. I wasn't sure what to really talk to him about since he was drugged up so I made small talk. Dylan sat there for a minute, thinking.

"She'll tell me she told me so. Then rub it in my face for a day or so, but then I think she'll be sympathetic." We both laughed and I sat back into the couch and watched the fire crackle. "So what did you do while I was at the doctor?"

"Oh, well when I was walking back I stopped to stare at the snow and Iggy startled me. I fell into the snow and pulled him down with me so we had a little wrestling match in the snow. I totally won, and if Iggy says otherwise, he's lying," I said happily. Dylan turned to face me; I was surprised to see a scowl on his face.

"Why do you always spend so much time with him?" he snapped. That was definitely not the response I was expecting. I blinked and quickly regained my composure.

"Because he's my best friend. Why wouldn't I spend time with him? We've grown up together. What's wrong with that?"

Dylan scoffed and returned his gaze to the fire. "Don't you realize what people say about you two behind your backs? Everyone thinks you two are a couple. It's not right, how come he can get a girl so easily? What's so special about him?" I was in complete and utter shock at this confession.

"Hey, that's my best friend you're talking about! Last I checked he was your friend too! What's with you today? Is it national diss your friend day? I won't let you talk about Iggy like that!" I yelled at him. I was slowly getting angrier, if Dylan said one more word about Iggy I'd slug him and I wouldn't feel bad about it in the slightest. I watched Dylan, wondering what he was going to do next. His entire body seemed to be shaking for some reason.

Before I knew it, his hand cut through the air and I felt a sharp sting on the side of my face. I reeled back in shock and my hand flew to my face. What just happened? Did he just slap me? My first reaction was to jump up from the couch and back away from Dylan. "Dude what the heck?" I yelled. Dylan's entire body was shaking, with what I think was fury. As I began to back away from him, I bumped into something. Standing behind me, to my surprise, was Fang. And boy did he look mad.

Fang gently moved me aside and stood above Dylan, looking all menacing. "If you know what's good for you, you won't try a stunt like that again," he seethed. Without a response from Dylan, Fang grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of the room and into the hall. "Are you ok?" he asked when we were out of ear shot.

"I don't know what came over him. We were just talking when he started bad mouthing Iggy. I told him he was acting like a jerk and he slapped me. How much of it did you see?" I said softly. My face still stung from the slap and I'm sure there was a red mark on it.

"I heard yelling so I went to check it out. When I got there you were standing, facing him. It didn't take long for me to figure out something happened." All the stuff that had just happened in the past few minutes were just beginning to sink in, I put my hand up to my face to feel that it was still really sore. What could have caused Dylan to act like this?

"I think I'm going to go back to my room. Fang, thanks, for helping me and all," I said sweetly. I needed to be alone, to try and figure some things out, all of the stuff Dylan said to me. And what I was going to do about it. Fang nodded and before he walked away he gave me a small reassuring hug. It was the first time he had hugged me since he started dating Lissa. I slowly made my way down to my room and opened the door. Everyone else was out doing their own thing, lounging or eating dinner or whatever, so I had the room to myself.

In a rapid movement I fell face first onto my bed and sighed loudly. This was another one of those days that I just wanted to end; I seemed to have a lot of those recently. My mind drifted to what Dylan told me about me and Iggy. Was he right? Did people really think we were a couple? I was just so confused about all of this. My feelings about Iggy were changing, and I didn't know if I was ready for that yet. As I lay there, thinking, there was a knock at the door. "Max, open up! Max, I know you're in there." It was Iggy. He must have heard about the fight between me and Dylan. I pushed myself up from my bed and walked over to the door.

"I'm coming, keep your shirt on," I grumbled as I pulled the door open. Iggy was standing there still in his coat and gloves from being outside, his hand raised, ready to knock on the door again.

"Fang said something happened. Are you ok?" he asked. His eyes then grew wide; I figured he saw the red mark on my face. "Holy…" he started.

"Ig, don't start. Please don't start. I know what you're thinking. I don't want to make this any worse than it already is," I pleaded. The look on Iggy's face was one mixed with anger and sadness.

"Come on," he said. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of my room. I was led down a couple different hallways until we reached another empty lounge room. "Max, we tell each other everything. So you better tell me exactly what happened and who did that to you," Iggy said pointing to my red face, "Before I go find Fang and make him tell me."

"I got into a fight with Dylan," I muttered softly.

"Wait, Dylan was the one who hit you? He's a dead man," Iggy hissed. He clenched his fists and was about to walk out of the room. I put my hands up on his shoulders and stopped him in his tracks.

"Don't do it Ig. He's not himself today. He said something about getting all drugged up on pain killers because of his knee. I don't think he meant it," I pleaded. Thankfully, Iggy stopped trying to leave the room and ran a hand through his hair.

"You're defending him. Unbelievable. Dylan slaps you in the face, and you defend him. Whatever, you do whatever you want Max," Iggy said throwing his hands up in the air. He walked over to the other side of the room and stared out the window. This wasn't how I wanted this conversation to go. If I lost Iggy I don't know what I would do.

"Ig, please. I can't fight with you too. I don't think I'll be able to take it," I cried. Tears began filling up my eyes and slowly began to fall down my face.

"Don't cry Max. I hate seeing you cry," Iggy said as he walked back over to me.

"There's more to what happened Ig. I haven't told you what we were fighting about."

"Well?" Iggy pulled me down onto the bench in the room and waited for me to tell him what I had been fighting since the trip started.

"He asked me why I spend so much time with you. I told him it was because we were best friends. Then he told me that everyone thought we were a couple because of how much time we spend together. This morning, Lissa asked me the same thing. Iggy, I'm sorry, this is all so confusing," I explained. Now it was time for me to face my fear, Iggy's reaction. For a while, Iggy didn't say anything, he just sat there. He opened his mouth finally to say something when a small group of kids from our school walked in, talking and laughing.

I groaned. Why did these things always happen to me? Seeing my frustration, Iggy stood up and motioned for me to follow him. We quickly left the room and began looking around for somewhere else we could talk without other people listening in. "Here, this will have to do," I finally said. I opened the big wooden door and walked out into the frigid air.

"Max you don't have a coat on, you're going to freeze to death out here," Iggy protested.

"Then talk quickly," I said through chattering teeth.

"OK, well, how do I say this? Man, in my head this conversation went a lot easier then it is right now. Ugh, well Max, to tell you the truth, I like you, a lot. No, that can't even sum up how I feel. Max, I think I love you. We've been best friends for who knows how long? And in that time I've learned you are one of the most remarkable girls I've ever met in my life." I didn't even know what to say. This was defiantly not the answer I was expecting form Iggy. But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized, I loved him too.

"Is this really happening?" I asked. Iggy's face softened and he wrapped his arms around me in a warm, safe hug.

"I think so," he whispered. I hugged Iggy tighter, partly because I didn't want to let go since I felt so safe in his arms and partly because I was freezing and it felt good to be this close to someone. "Holy crap Max, you're freezing. Why on earth did you decide to have this conversation outside?" Iggy asked. He pulled off his coat and wrapped it around me. I was instantly filled with a blanket of warmth. As we stood there, in the snow, after both of us confessing we love each other, I realized that this trip wasn't so bad after all. Iggy must have been thinking the same thing because he smiled at me and said, "Well, I guess this trip was worth going on after all." Then, Iggy leaned down, and kissed me. And it made me feel like nothing could ever go wrong again.

**Me: Well? Are you all happy now? You all have gotten the Miggy you have been begging for. I nearly died while writing this because of how cheesy and cliché it was but it will be totally worth it if you all review and tell me what you thought. Your reviews help feed my plot bunny Skip. Don't kill bunnies and review! **


	13. Being Proud

**Me: Thank you all for the reviews! Skip is a very happy plot bunny now. I had great pleasure in writing this chapter, an event takes place in this chapter that I've been wanting to happen since chapter one. For today's disclaimer I decided to mix it up a little bit and give Iggy a well deserved break, so here's Ella to give the disclaimer for once. **

**Ella: Well, I don't really know how to do a disclaimer but I'll do my best. Water Wolf 100 does not own any of the characters in this story that appear in any of the James Patterson books. **

**Me: That was prefect Ella. Thanks. *beams* Please give lots of reviews and tell me what you think of the chapter or the story as a whole. **

Chapter 13: Being proud

I lost track of how long I was out in the snow with Iggy. Time seems to have stopped and I never wanted it to start again. This moment could have lasted forever and I would have been happy. I understood now, all of the confusion I had been feeling was because I was falling in love with Iggy. Now he knew the truth and I knew he loved me. "Come on Max, we better get back inside before the chaperones send out a search party," Iggy finally said. I groaned and wrapped my arms around his middle.

"Do we have to?" I whined. Going back inside meant facing Lissa and Dylan, the two people I didn't want to see at that moment. Iggy laughed and took my hand in his and led me back inside the lodge. I half expected him to let go of my hand as we headed inside, but he didn't. There was a group of about nine or ten people from my school sitting in one of the main lobbies and they all stopped what they were doing and stared at us as we walked past.

As we reached the hallway my room was in, I spotted Dylan at the other end of the hall. He was hobbling down the long hallway on crutches and when he saw me, he stopped. Iggy noticed and I felt his grip tighten around my hand. We met in the middle of the hall and Dylan stopped again and looked at me. The look on his face was filled with regret. "Max, I'm," Dylan began.

"Save it Dylan," Iggy snapped. They glared at each other for a minute before Dylan turned back to me.

"Max please, you have to listen," he pleaded. I wasn't in much of a listening mood so I turned away from Dylan and looked down the hallway.

"Well, that's that. Come on Max," Iggy said. He let go of my hand and instead wrapped his arm around my shoulders and led me down the hall, leaving Dylan standing there confused. We reached my room and before I opened my door Iggy gave me a good night kiss. Yeah, this was something I could get used to.

"Night Ig," I said as he walked away. Once he was out of sight I unlocked my door only to find Kelsey, Alyssa and Lissa all sitting in the room, staring at me.

"Did you two have fun?" Lissa asked as I shut the door. She grinned wickedly and I rolled my eyes at her.

"Stuff it Lissa. I don't pester you about your relationship with Fang. So stay out of mine," I grumbled. As I dug through my drawer for my pajamas, Lissa got up and stood above me.

"Well, you and Fang shouldn't even be speaking. You're little buddy system was all broken up. Remember?"

"Oh I remember. You cornered Iggy and kissed him, setting it up so Fang would see and think Iggy was trying to steal you from him. I've been on to your little game for a while. It all started with the text if I recall. Right before school started. I just don't get it. Why do you want to split the three of us up?"

Lissa laughed, it was all high and squeaky, like a little mouse. "Silly Maxie, without you two, Fang is all mine. I don't want to share him with the two of you. You and Iggy aren't worthy to be Fang's friends. Now, why don't we all just go to bed? And you two," Lissa said turning to Alyssa and Kelsey, "You tell anyone about this little conversation and we're going to have a problem. Got it?" Both Kelsey and Alyssa nodded timidly.

This had put my hatred of Lissa over the top. She had to be knocked down a peg, and I would do everything in my power to make sure that happened. By the time I got out of the bathroom, Lissa and Kelsey was already asleep but Alyssa was still awake, reading some book. I crawled under my nice warm covers and opened my phone to start texting Iggy about the conversation I just had with Lissa. As I opened my phone I noticed there was a text from Dylan on my phone. I could care less what he had to say, so I deleted it without opening it up.

Eventually Alyssa turned off her book light and fell asleep, but I stayed awake for a while after that. The day's events played through in my mind and even though the fight with Dylan was less than ideal it was a pretty good day. For the first time in a while, I fell asleep with a smile on my face. The next morning no one woke me up which made me super happy. I got to sleep in as late as I wanted to, this particular day it was twelve thirty before I got up.

The first thing I did was check my phone. On it there were three texts, one from Dylan which I ignored, and one from Ella saying that she was excited for me to be home tomorrow. The third was from Iggy and it said, "didn't hav heart 2 wake u. I no u will miss breakfast so ill save u food. C u when u get up. Luv u." I smiled and fell back into my pillows. It wasn't a dream; Iggy did tell me he loved me yesterday. Forcing myself out of my warm bed I put on jeans and a sweatshirt since I didn't plan to actually go on the slopes today. While I was brushing my hair, there was a knock at the door.

"Max, it's Fang. Are you awake yet?"

"Coming!" I called from the bathroom. I ran over and opened the door to find Fang standing there, in full out snowboarding gear.

"Lissa told me you had an interesting night," he said. I rolled my eyes and shut the door behind me.

"You could say that," I said with a small laugh. As we walked down the hallway I told Fang of everything that happened after I left him to go back to my room.

"Well it took him long enough," Fang finally muttered. I gave him a puzzled look. What did he mean by that?" "Oh come on Max, everyone knew that you two were meant for each other. Well, everyone except you two apparently. Even Nudge knew it. Heck, Sara once even asked me if you two were going out. I just can't believe it took you two all these years to finally admit it to each other." I was floored. Was it really that obvious that we were meant to be a couple? I must have been denser then I thought. A lot of things made sense to me now though. Like why Iggy was so stiff and unfriendly right after Dylan asked me to the Lady Gaga concert. He was jealous.

Fang and I had reached the dining hall where I soon spotted Iggy sitting at a table with one of his roommates. Fang waved good-bye to me and went to go find Lissa. As I reached Iggy's table he looked up and beamed at me. "Well good morning sleepy head," he said cheerfully. "Nice to see you up before the sun went down." I swatted his head and sat down at the table.

"So what do you want to do today?" I asked as I took a bit of a muffin Iggy handed me. His roommate got up and went to go hang out with another one of his friends that came into the room. I laughed when I saw the grin grow on Iggy's face. He had something up his sleeve and I knew that he wouldn't tell me until the last minute.

"Get your coat. There's something I want to show you," he said. Now that wasn't the response I was expecting. I thought he would want to hang out in the lodge, and stay as far away from the mountain as possible. I finished eating my muffin and ran back up to my room and quickly grabbed my coat and gloves.

As I was heading back to the lobby I spotted Dylan coming out of his room. For someone on crutches he moved pretty quickly because before I knew it he was standing in front of me, a sorry expression on his face. "I don't want to talk about it Dylan," I said shortly as I walked away. He followed me calling for me to stop and listen but I had no intention to. Luckily Iggy was waiting for me in the lobby so I went and stood next to him.

"What do you want Dylan?" Iggy asked icily. He put his arm around my shoulders and glared at Dylan.

"I just want to say I'm sorry for the way I acted last night. I was out of line, but that's still no excuse for saying the things I did. Or doing the things I did. Max, I didn't mean to hit you. I don't know what came over me and I just want to say I'm sorry. Also I'm glad you two are together now, you were meant to be together." Dylan started to hobble away and I looked up at Iggy. He smiled and I ran back to Dylan and caught his shoulder.

"Thank you Dylan. It means a lot to me that you would say that. How about tonight you sit with me and Iggy at dinner?" I asked. Dylan smiled and nodded. "See you then," I called as he walked away. I backed up slowly and bumped into Iggy. I felt his arms snake around my waist and he began leading me towards the door.

"You ready?" he asked as we entered the frigid outside door.

"Maybe, it depends on what," I said with a laugh. Instead of heading towards the slopes, Iggy led me around the back of the building where there was a small wooded trail. "Where are you taking me?" I asked. Instead of answering me Iggy just chuckled and continued to walk towards the trail.

"You'll see. The lady at the front desk told me about this place. OK stop for a second, I want this to be a total surprise," Iggy said excitedly. He stood behind me and placed his hands over my eyes. This was getting weird, and annoying. I didn't like not being able to see, it freaked me out.

"Ig, just tell me where we're going," I begged. There was no response, but Iggy began walking me forward through the trail. I heard the snow crunch beneath my boots but everything else was strangely silent. A few minutes later Iggy pulled me to a stop and removed his hands from my eyes.

"What do you think?" he asked as I took in the sight before me. We were standing at the edge of a frozen pond. The afternoon sun was shining off of its slick surface making it appear like a sheet of perfect polished glass. Along the edge there were little trees but behind them, monstrous pine trees stood watch. The place was deserted, though on the other side I saw a little wooden bench and a sign right next to the surface.

"Ig, this is beautiful," I said breathlessly. The happy glow on his face was blinding and he took my hand and together we ran to the bench on the other side and sat down.

"I thought you would like it. I'm sure you're wondering why I brought you here though."

"The thought has crossed my mind once in a while," I said. Then I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Well, it involves these." Iggy reached into his backpack, that I didn't even realize he had, and pulled out a pair of ice skates.

"No. It's not going to happen. Ig, I have issues walking down stairs. What makes you think I can ice skate?" I yelled. Iggy laughed and began pulling off his boots. "Is it safe?"

"According to the manager at the front desk its perfectly safe. This used to be a really popular spot but then everyone got into skiing and snowboarding. Personally, I think this is much more fun. And don't worry you'll do fine. I'm going to help you until you can skate all by yourself." I sighed and stared at the ice until Iggy had his skates on. Then he showed me how to lace them up properly so that I wouldn't fall. Then, he took my hand and led me to the ice.

As soon as my feet hit the slippery surface of the ice, I felt them go out from under me. Before I fell to the ground in a pathetic heap, Iggy caught me and held me steady until I found my balance. "I can't do this," I cried out as I almost fell again. I had zero balance on this giant ice cube and any moment I knew I was going to fall and hurt myself.

We slowly made our way further onto the pond and Iggy didn't let go of me the entire time. "Don't worry. I'm not going to let you fall. All you have to do is out one foot in front of the other, just like walking. Only, don't actually life your foot of the ice, let yourself glide." He stood in front of me and held my hands as I tried to go forward. To my surprise, I managed to skate three feet without almost falling. "See, you can do this," Iggy encouraged. At a snail's pace we made a lap around the entire pond and I didn't fall once. Then again, it was hard to fall when I had Iggy holding me up the entire time.

"This is actually really fun. Thanks Ig," I said happily. I was enjoying getting to spend time alone with him and I felt so grateful that he would do this for me. We stopped and I leaned forward and gave him a peck on the cheek. We continued to go around and around the pond and after about an hour I was feeling pretty confident. "Hey Iggy? I think I might be able to do a little on my own now. I actually think I've got this down." With a quick nod, Iggy let go of my hands and for a moment I wobbled but I was able to catch myself. As I skated forward like Iggy showed me, I realized that I was doing it. I couldn't wait to tell Ella and my parents. They would be so amazed to hear that I ice skated by myself.

We made another lap and I was really getting into it. As I picked up speed it felt like I was flying. This must be what birds feel like. Nothing to hold them back or stop them, I never wanted to stop. Although since my luck sucks like that, the wonderful feeling did stop. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and the next moment I was eating snow. "Are you ok Max?" Iggy asked. He got off the ice and sat down in the snow next to me. I sat up and shook the excess snow off of my face.

"I'm ok. The snow cautioned my fall," I said with a laugh. With a happy sigh I fell back into the snow and stared up at the trees above me. They were so large and beautiful; we had nothing like them back in LA. Iggy leaned back next to me and I snuggled closer to him. "I wonder what our families are going to say," I wondered out loud.

"Well here's my guess. Both of our mom's will cry, Gazzy will simply walk away, Ella will squeal, Angel will sit there with that creepy all-knowing smile on her face and your dad will probably kill me. But that's just a guess," Iggy responded.

"My dad won't kill you. As hard as it may be for you to believe, he does like you. He once told me 'Max, that friend of yours Iggy, he's not like some of the other boys your age. He seems to have a good head on his shoulders.' So don't worry about my dad, it'll be ok."

"Thanks Max, that means a lot. Too bad my dad isn't here, back when we were in the fifth grade he told me that someday we would end up going out. If he was here now, he would be saying 'I told you so.' You know, sometimes I wonder what he would say if he was still here. Would he be proud of me? I hate not knowing sometimes," Iggy said softly.

I hated seeing him like this. It was rare for him to talk about his dad, but when he did, it made him pretty upset. "Ig, of course he'd be proud of you. He'd be proud of how smart, caring and happy you are. You should never wonder if your dad was proud of you," I said gently. I wrapped my arms around one of his and set my head on his shoulder.

We sat in the snow for a while, neither of us speaking. Iggy was deep in thought, probably about his dad, and I was just enjoying sitting with him. I never thought that being with Iggy could be like this. "Max?" Iggy finally asked. "Maybe we should head back now. We don't want the chaperones hunting us down." I slowly became aware of the fact that I was lying on my back in snow. As I got up I began shaking snow from my back.

"We might as well. Plus, it's getting cold out. Hot chocolate sounds nice doesn't it?" We made our way back to our boots and as handed my boots back to Iggy I sneezed.

"You're not getting sick are you?" he asked.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about it, it's probably my allergies," I said. Deep down, I wasn't sure if that was true. My throat was beginning to hurt and I had a slight headache. Iggy rolled his eyes and put our skates back into his bag. As we walked back to the lodge, Iggy decided that it would be a good idea to skip through the snow.

The soft white powder flew everywhere as he skipped along like a five year old. "Come on Max, you know you want to," he mocked.

"No, I really don't. You know quite well that I can't skip," I said laughing. I continued to watch as he trudged through the snow, looking like a fool. "Wow, my boyfriend is a dork," I muttered. That made Iggy stop dead in his tracks.

"Who are you calling a dork?" he asked, faking hurt in his voice. "That hurt Max; that really hurt. Now, you have to pay the price." I watched horrified as he set his bag down in the snow and came over to where I was standing. Placing his arms around my waist, he lifted me and flung me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He picked his bag back up and continued walking.

"Ig, this isn't funny! Put me down!" I yelled. With a thud, I found myself lying on my back in the snow. "Thank you," I said as I looked up at him. Naturally, he had the goofiest grin on his face and he extended out a hand to me. I took it and he pulled me to my feet.

"Come on we better hurry," he said. We took off running towards the lodge and it turned into some race because as it came into view we both started running faster. With his longer legs, Iggy managed to pull ahead of me and crossed the doorframe first.

"No fair, your legs are longer than mine," I pouted. I crossed my arms and put on my best puppy dog face. It was impossible for Iggy to resist my puppy dog eyes.

"Come on Max don't do that. You know that face is impossible for me to resist," Iggy said with a whine. He leaned his forehead into mine and gave me a light kiss. "Please smile for me, pretty please." It was too much for me, my face broke out into a bright beam and I wrapped my arms around his neck. I let go and I realized that I was still in my wet clothes.

"I'm going to go put on something dry. I'll be back," I said happily. As I walked away I let out a sigh. I was feeling worse and worse every passing minute. My headache had gotten worse and my throat was killing me. Getting sick was defiantly not something I was planning on happening. I took of my wet clothes and found a pair of warm sweatpants and a t-shirt. I pulled my hair up into a messy bun and walked back out of the room.

When I got to the lounge, I saw Iggy sitting by the fire looking at his phone. "So what's happening on in the outside world?" I asked as I sat down next to him. He looked up from his phone and shrugged.

"No clue, I can't get online up here. I have almost zero service. So what do you want to do?" he asked putting an arm around my shoulder.

I shrugged and shut my eyes; I was super tired and could sleep for the next week. "I'm content doing this," I mumbled. Iggy chuckled and began playing with my hair. "Will you knock it off?" I asked as I swatted his hand away.

"Hey guys what's up?" a voice called. I opened one eye to see Dylan coming towards us. He sat down on the couch across from us and set his crutches down on the ground next to him. "Where did you both disappear to?"

"I taught Max how to ice skate," Iggy said happily.

"Yep, then I face-planted into a pile of snow," I added not moving from my extremely comfortable spot on the couch.

"Well I just thought I'd tell you guys that they're serving dinner and that its pork and also that it's awesome," Dylan said. I looked up at Iggy who nodded. We sprang up and made a b-line for the dining room. We were able to get our food before a huge crowd of students came in and we took a table in the back on the dining room. Dylan was right, the food was amazing. Not as good as my mom's but still delicious.

After we finished Iggy and I sat and watched the other seniors doing their own thing. The longer I sat there the more the buzzing from the lights made my head pound. There was no denying it, I was sick. But I didn't want to say anything to Iggy because I didn't want to make him worry. "Max? What's wrong? You're spacing out," Iggy called. He snapped his fingers in my face a few times and I jumped a few inches in the air.

"Sorry Ig, I guess I'm just really tired," I lied. It was a useless attempt, Iggy knew me well enough to tell when I was lying. He narrowed his eyes and gave me a 'don't lie to me look'. "Honestly, I think if I go to bed early tonight I'll be fine."

Iggy still didn't buy it. He looked at me up and down and eventually set the back of his head on my forehead. "You're warm. I think you should go to bed now. I'd hate to see you get really sick while on vacation. I'll see you in the morning," he said as he pushed me up from my seat and towards the door.

I staggered down the hall towards my room and somehow I was able to get the door unlocked and I fell face first into my bed and pulled a blanket around me. Hopefully this annoying little bug I had would go away soon or else I would have a problem. It would be a long bus ride home if I was sick.

* * *

Iggy POV

I watched as she stumbled out of the dining room towards her room. Maybe I should have gone with her. I didn't want to say anything but she looked pretty sick when we first got back from ice skating. If Max was sick because of me I would never be able to forgive myself. "Yo Ig!" a voice called out to me. I turned to see a boy named Frank Peters walking towards me. I sort of knew him, but we didn't hang out or anything like that.

"What's up Frank?" I asked puzzled as he took a seat next to me.

"I heard you're with Max now. That's sick dude, how did you manage that?" Now I was really confused. Part of me was curious to know what he was talking about but another part of me knew that it was a bad idea. "You are lucky my friend. She is so dang hot it's insane. I envy you dude." OK, now that was crossing the line. I jumped up from my seat, knocking my chair over in the process.

"Say one more word about Max and we're going to have a problem," I hissed. Before he had a chance to say anything else I walked out of the dining room and headed somewhere I could cool off. To hear someone talk about Max like that sickened me to my core. There was more to her then her looks, she was beautiful inside and out.

I passed Max's room and didn't hear anything so I figured she was asleep. As I got closer to my room I saw someone standing outside my door. I figured that it was just one of my roommates who forgot their key again. As I got closer I realized that it was Fang. "What are you doing here?" I asked. Things were still pretty awkward between us from the fight back at school so I was weary to see him standing outside my door.

"Can we talk?" he asked quietly. I shrugged and unlocked my door. None of my roommates were back yet so it was eerily silent in the room. "I'm here to apologize," he said as I shut the door.

"About what?" I asked. I dug around in my suitcase until I found a dry shirt and stood there, waiting for Fang to respond.

"The fight. Earlier today Alyssa Andres and Kelsey Green came up to me and told me about a big fight between Lissa and Max. They said that Lissa admitted to trying to break the three of us apart, so that she could have me all to herself. I asked Lissa about it and she wasn't able to give me a good answer. You guys were right, Lissa was doing everything. I'm sorry I didn't see that until now," Fang apologized. I stared at him dumbfounded. All this time and he is just now realizing we had been right from the beginning?

"So what did you do about Lissa?" I asked. Fang smirked and ran a hand through his hair.

"I dumped her. My girlfriend needs to understand that my friends are part of the package and that you can't have just me. So, it looks like I'm the odd man out now in the couple field."

"Don't worry man, it'll happen. There are a ton of girls in our class that would be willing to take the position," I said with a laugh. "Oh boy, I feel sorry for Max now." I added when I remembered that Lissa was Max's roommate.

"Oh boy this won't end well," Fang agreed. "But hopefully Mac will keep her cool. Speaking of Max, how are things between you two?" I felt a grin grow across my face.

"How do you think?" I asked. Fang grinned and nodded.

"Well I'm glad that's she with you and not Dylan. When I heard that she was going to the concert with him I was pretty mad. I mean look, they weren't even together and he hurt her. I don't even want to think of what would happen if they got together. And remember, if you hurt Max at all, I'll track you down and cut off all your limbs with a butter knife," Fang said. Part of me thought that he was serious but then I remembered that Fang knew I would never do anything to hurt her.

"I wouldn't think of it. She means everything to me, she always has," I responded. Fang nodded again and we did our old secret hand shake from last year. With a small wave Fang left my room and I heard the door shut behind him with a click. I then ripped off my damp t-shirt and changed into the lounge pants I brought with me. After I brushed my teeth I climbed into bed and sent a text to Max wishing her luck when Lissa got back to her room.

It then hit me, we were going home tomorrow. This trip had been nothing like I expected it to be and I was sad to be going home. As I began drifting into a deep sleep I thought of Max and I hoped that she would be feeling better in the morning.


	14. Party Planners

**Me: As some of you know-this story is slowly coming to an end. I do not plan on making this story more than 20 chapters, so things are going to start getting wrapped up. I've had the time of my life writing this and I hope all of you have enjoyed reading it. I'm not sure how long it will be until my next completed story but I'll try to make it as soon as possible. I have a couple chapters of something written already and I'm thinking of posting it and if I get enough positive reviews I'll work on it next. **

**Iggy: If this story is almost over does that me I'm going to get to home soon? **

**Me: Sadly yes it does. The contract I made with James Patterson to kidnap you will be ended as soon as I post the final chapter of this story. So let's try to make the best of it? Would you like to give the disclaimer again?**

**Iggy: Sure why not? Water Wolf 100 does not own and of the characters featured in the Maximum Ride books. **

Chapter 14: Party Planners

Max POV

The sweet silence of the night was broken by the sound of a wail. Groggily, I opened one eye to see who I would have to kill for waking me up. To my surprise, Lissa was sitting on the floor in our room sobbing her eyes out. "What's wrong? Break a nail?" I asked irritably. Alyssa and Kelsey woke up as well and were staring at Lissa in confusion.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Lissa choked out through her tears. With a groan I climbed out of my nice warm bed, realizing how cold it was in the room, and stood above Lissa.

It was the first time I had ever seen her cry and I had to admit, it was pretty pathetic. Her mascara was making thick black lines down her face and her eyes were red and puffy. She clearly had been crying for a while. "Normally I wouldn't care, but since you're interrupting my sleep I might as well ask," I snapped back.

"F-Fang broke up with me," she said softly. Well that wasn't something I was expecting. Why would Fang break up with Lissa? Not that I was upset about that, just curious. "What did you say to him?" she suddenly snapped.

"Listen. I didn't say one thing to him. I've tried to in the past but you kept him on such a short leash he never listened to me. Don't you dare go blaming me for this," I hissed. "You were the one who caused this whole mess; it was bound to come back and bite you in butt sometime. Frankly, I'm glad someone said something to Fang. It finally got you away from the rest of us. Now, I'm going back to bed. I hear one more peep out of you and we're going to have a problem." I turned around and got back into bed. Deep down I knew I shouldn't have kicked her while she was down, but the witch deserved it.

After a few minutes of sitting in an awkward silence, Lissa got into bed and shut the lights off and I was able to return to sleep. I still felt horrible but at least we were going home tomorrow, I could go home and sleep as long as I wanted to.

The next morning I received no phone call, text or any other form of rude wake up call. As I sat up I was hit with a wave of dizziness with was accompanied by a pounding headache. The room was silent but I noticed that Alyssa was sitting on the floor packing her suitcase. "Morning Max. That sure was a crazy night last night," she muttered without stopping.

"Yeah. I wonder who told Fang about what Lissa was doing," I wondered out loud. Slowly, I got out of bed noticing how stiff my body was. I figured it was from all the snowboarding and ice skating, so I shook it off. I pulled out my own bag and sat down next to Alyssa and started emptying the contents of my drawer.

"Well, um, that was me and Kelsey. We told Fang about the argument you and Lissa had the other night and last we heard he went off to go find her. It's not right, what she did to you and Iggy. We both knew that telling Fang was the right thing to do, even if Lissa finds out it was us," Alyssa said meekly. I smirked and went back to packing my bag. "What?" she asked, referencing to my smirk.

"Lissa is all talk. She likes to make empty threats but she won't follow through with them. And if she tries to pull anything on you or Kelsey let me know. I'll kick her skinny booty from here to summer. Alyssa gave me a huge smile as she zipped her suitcase shut.

"Thanks a lot Max. Well I'm going to go get breakfast, I'll see you later." Alyssa got up from the floor and walked out of the room. As I heard the door close shut I fell back onto the floor in a tired heap. Whatever cold I had hadn't gone away yet and it was really putting a damper on my day. Forcing myself to get up, I dug through my half packed suitcase for a pair of sweatpants and a long sleeved shirt. Dressing warmly didn't do a whole lot to help me get over the chills that I had but it was better then what I had on before.

Just as I finished packing there was a knock on my door. I slowly stood up and trudged over to the door and pulled it open. "Hey how are you feeling?" Iggy asked. Using up all my energy, I forced a smile on my face and gave him a thumbs-up.

"A lot better actually," I lied. "I guess all I needed was a good night's sleep." Iggy frowned. Crap, he didn't buy it. He put his hand on my forehead and instantly pulled it back.

"Max, you're really warm. Maybe you should go lie down until it's time to go home. I don't want you to get really sick."

"Ig I'm going to be ok. It's just a cold. I probably got it from using the ski gear the other day. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. I promise, I'll spend two days resting in bed when we get home. Come on Iggy, I want to enjoy our last few hours here. Let's go walk around for a bit. Pretty please?" I begged, using my puppy dog eyes.

"I'm going to have to work on resisting that face. But all right, let's go. The chaperones are taking suitcases now so you can bring yours down if you want to." I nodded and grabbed my suitcase from its place on the floor. Before I shut the door I took one last look at the room. I sure was going to miss this place. Then I was hit with an idea. I caught the closing door with my foot and pulled my camera out of my bag. I quickly snapped a picture before shoving the camera in my sweatshirt pocket.

Iggy picked up my bag and carried it down to the lobby for me. We let it sitting by one of the chaperones, I grabbed my coat and we walked outside. A light snow had started and I watched as the flakes stuck to Iggy's hair and coat. I pulled my camera back out and took a picture of him standing in the snow looking up at the sky.

"Here, give me your camera," Iggy said. I handed it to him and smiled. He took a picture of me and handed me back the camera. We walked around the grounds for a while, occasionally stopping to take a picture of something. I had no idea why I didn't bring my camera with me everywhere I went on the trip. I was probably distracted with having to room with Lissa and sorting through my feelings of Iggy.

We decided to go back to the pond so I could get a picture of the place where I learned to ice skate. Iggy slid out onto the ice in his boots and grinned happily. "Let's go find Fang. I want him in some of these too," I said when Iggy got off the ice.

"Sure, thought I don't know what kind of mood he'll be in considering the breakup and all," Iggy said with a shrug. I nodded in agreement and we jogged back to the lodge. Running while being sick wasn't my smartest idea ever. When we finally stopped I felt like I was going to die. I took a second to catch my breath before continuing to walk towards the lodge. Iggy spotted Fang first and let out a sharp whistle. I winced in pain. The whistle defiantly didn't help my headache one bit.

"What's up guys?" Fang asked as we reached him. I held out my camera and smiled.

"Picture time. And if you don't willingly smile for one photo I'll simply have to tickle you and take about ten pictures. Your pick," I threatened with a sly grin. That naturally received a death glare from Fang but he eventually gave up. "Hey Megan come over here!" I called to a girl standing in the doorway. She jogged over to us and I asked, "Can you take our picture?"

"Sure," she said as I handed her my camera. I stood in-between Fang and Iggy and put my arms around both of them. "Say cheese," Megan said and she clicked the shutter button. "That is super cute." She handed me back my camera and I looked at the picture. Megan was right, it was a cute picture. For once all three of us were smiling normally and we were all looking right at the camera.

"Here, I'll get one of you two," Fang said. He took my camera out of my hand and backed up a few feet. Iggy stood behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist and set his chin on my head. I had on the biggest smile imaginable as Fang took the picture and handed me back my camera.

"I want one with you, Fang," I said and handed it to Iggy. I stood next to Fang and he put his arm around my shoulders lightly and Iggy took the picture and put my camera in his pocket.

"OK, now get your hands off my girlfriend," Iggy said laughing. He pretended to shove Fang away from me and it turned into one of those mini-wrestling match things that guys like to do. Guys were so lame sometimes. I shook my head and walked back inside to see if I could find some hot chocolate. My attempt was futile so I sat in front of the fire and waited until Iggy and Fang were done being macho.

"Hi Max," a voice said cheerfully. I turned around to see Dylan coming over to me. "What are you doing in here?"

"Waiting for the two idiots I call my boyfriend and best friend to be done being macho," I said with a light shrug. Dylan gave me a puzzled look and sat down across from me.

"Max, are you feeling ok? You look really pale," Dylan said worriedly. I shot a glance over to the large mirror on the wall at the back of the room and I saw that Dylan was right. My skin was looking a lot paler then it usually was. I had been pushing my sickness out of my head in order to enjoy our last day here but now that I thought about it; I felt horrible.

The chills hadn't gone away, my head was pounding and my throat was killing me. "I caught a bug a few days ago. I'll be fine," I said. Another chill shot up my back and I scooted closer to the fire. A couple chaperones walked in and said that we would be loading the busses in five minutes and that we should get some snacks because we wouldn't be stopping for a while. I didn't have much of an appetite but I figured it would be a good idea to get something in case I did get hungry on the road.

When I got to the bus I found Iggy sitting in his seat so I simply climbed over him. "Hey!" he shouted. "I would have moved."

"I know, this just looked like a lot more fun," I said with a small laugh. After a head count and some direction on what we were supposed to do when we got back to LA the bus finally lurched forward and I stared out the window as the lodge vanished from view. For a while I just sat and listened to Iggy and Dylan talk about some football game they missed while we were away. About a half hour in our trip down the mountain my head began hurting even worse than usual and I felt like I was going to be sick.

"Max? What's the matter?" Iggy asked me. He put a cool hand on my forehead and sighed. "I knew you should have stayed in bed this morning. I think your fever is worse than it was this morning."

"Wonderful," I muttered. Another shiver erupted out of my body and I pulled my coat closer around me. Iggy wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his chest. "My head is killing me," I complained. Normally I wasn't much of a complainer, but when I was sick, well that's a whole different matter. I sat there all pitiful and sick while Iggy stroked my hair gently.

"Do you want me to go ask the chaperone for some medicine?" Iggy asked me gently. I shook my head and snuggled even closer to Iggy for warmth. I despised medicine; it never actually made me feel better. "Why don't you try and get some sleep?" That didn't sound like a bad idea so I shut my eyes and tried to clear my head of all thoughts. Eventually I think I did fall asleep because when I opened my eyes again I saw the ocean.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"About a half hour from home. You've been sleeping the entire bus ride. Do you feel any better?" Iggy asked as I sat up. I guess I spent the entire ride using him as a pillow.

"Not really. But at least I wasn't suffering the entire ride," I said with a shrug. Dylan then peeked his head over the back of the seat and grinned.

"Glad to see you among the living, Max. I wasn't sure if you would ever wake up," he said cheerfully. I rolled my eyes and pushed his head back.

"Ig, I hope I don't get you sick. I would feel terrible if that happened," I said when Dylan turned around. Iggy shook his head and smiled. "So are you ready to tell out families about what happened on the trip?" I watched as Iggy's smile slowly faded into a slightly freaked out expression.

I then became aware that the sun was setting and I looked past Iggy at the sunset on the other side of the bus. California sunsets were always breath-taking. The sky was striped with different shades of blue, purple and pink and the sun was a brilliant gold circle that sat on the edge of the shimmering ocean. "Attention students," the chaperone called, snapping me out of my day dream. "In about twenty minutes we will be arriving back at the school and I wanted to go over some more details about gathering up your gear." I began spacing out again; I knew all the details so I felt no need to pay attention.

Not long later I saw the top of our school building come into view. A group of cars were parked in the lot, most of them parents waiting to pick us up. I spotted my mom's car near the entrance to the parking lot. "You ready?" Iggy asked. He took my hand and squeezed it gently. The bus doors opened and students slowly made their way off the bus. We walked by Dylan and I gave him a sympathetic smile. He had to wait until everyone was off the bus so he could get through on his crutches.

We stepped off the bus and I was greeted by a pair of arms being flung around my neck. "Max it's so great that you're home. The house was so lonely with just me and Mom," Ella said happily.

"Ells, let go please. I can't breathe," I choked. Ella let go and I went over to my mom and gave her a hug.

"Hi Sweetheart. How was your trip?" she asked. Before I could answer she pulled away from me and put a hand on my forehead. "Maximum Batchelder, you have a fever. We're going home and you're going straight to bed. Iggy, you mom called me and asked me to take you home. She had to go to work for a while. Michael and Angel are in the car."

Iggy and I found our bags and before we got into the car we waved goodbye to Fang and Dylan. As I pulled open the door; Gazzy and Angel both jumped out and hugged Iggy. "Hey you two. I missed you guys. How have you been?" Iggy asked as he hugged them back.

"Good," they replied in unison. They took their seats again, Ella sat shotgun and Iggy and I climbed into the third row of our van. Iggy held my hand the entire ride while we listened to Angel tell us a story of something that happened to her at school. When we pulled into the Griffith's driveway Gazzy opened the door and we all climbed out.

"Hey Max do you think you can come inside? I want to show you my new stuffed animal," Angel pleaded. I looked back at my mom who held up her hand saying I had five minutes.

"Sure Ange, only for a few minutes though," I said with the shrug. I would have preferred going home and going to bed but when Angel looked at me with those huge blue eyes I couldn't resist. She beamed at me and took my hand, dragging me up to their front door. Iggy let us in with his key and I was pulled right up to Angel's very pink room. Every single thing in that room was pink-the walls, the rug, the bed, the little desk, and most of her toys were pink or had pink in them.

"Make it fast Angel, Max needs to go home soon," Iggy said as he stood in the doorway. After digging around in a huge pile of stuffed animals Angel finally pulled out a small bear and handed it to me. It was white, fuzzy and had angel wings and a halo.

"Her name is Celeste. Isn't she pretty?" Angel asked me happily. I nodded and handed the bear back to her.

"She is Ange. Thank you for showing me, but now I have to go home," I said. She nodded and turned her attention back to the pile of stuffed animals on the floor. I walked out of the room with Iggy on my heels. "Her room is like living in a Pepto-Bismol bottle," I said with a shudder. It was way too much pink for me; I preferred darker colors like red or navy blue. Pink was definitely not my style.

"Tell me about it. Consider yourself lucky you weren't the one who had to help paint it. I couldn't even look at a stick of gum for weeks," Iggy said with a chuckle. We had reached the door and I was about to pull it open when Iggy grabbed my wrist to stop me. "What? You aren't going to say good-bye?" he asked with a totally fake hurt voice.

"Ig I'm sick. I don't want to get you sick too," I responded. If Iggy got sick because of me I would have felt horrible.

"That's a risk I'm willing to take." He set his forehead against me and gave me a light kiss.

"Ew!" A terrified voice yelled from the top of the stairs. Iggy and I both snapped our heads up to see Gazzy and Angel standing there. Gazzy looked like he was about to be sick and Angel had this creepy smile on her face. "That's gross I'm so out of here!" Gazzy then turned and ran down the hall and we heard his bedroom door slam.

"I told you he'd walk away," Iggy whispered in my ear. I smirked and looked back up at Angel. It was hard to think of a word to describe the smile she had on her face. It was a mix between happiness, curiosity and all knowing. To say it was creepy was an understatement.

"Angel, go back into your room," Iggy ordered. But, for once, Angel ignored Iggy and bounded the stairs, her curls bouncing all the way. "Ange, go back upstairs," Iggy said again.

"Are you two boyfriend and girlfriend now? That's really cool. Are you going to like get married?" She asked casually. I nearly fainted with surprise. Marriage wasn't something I had on my mind, nor was I planning on having on my mind for quite a while.

"Um, I think I need to get going now. My mom's waiting. Bye Ange, bye Ig. I'll talk to you tonight!" I called as I ripped the door open and briskly walked outside. I felt bad about leaving so abruptly, but that was just way to awkward for me. I got in the car and my mom eyed me in the rearview mirror as I buckled my seatbelt.

"Max, do you care to tell me what happened on this trip between you and Iggy?" she asked me, trying to hide a grin. She was trying to sound serious but I could see the smile on her face and knew that she wasn't actually mad.

"It's only a ten minute car ride Mom," I said. "I'll tell you when we get home."

"ZOMG! So are you and Iggy like a couple now? That is so great, I can't wait to tell Nudge. I want all the details as soon as possible!" Ella shrieked. "Nudge and I knew that you two would get together someday, this is the greatest day ever!" I shook my head and put my ear buds in my ears and droned her out with the sound of Airplanes. When we finally got home I opened the door and walked straight inside. It had been way too long of a day for me and I was excited to sleep in my own bed.

I put on some nice comfortable pajamas and crawled under my covers and fell into a deep sleep. A while later; there was a knock on my door and I muttered out a, "Come in."

"Hi Honey, I brought you some soup. I thought it might help you feel better," my mom said as she walked in my room. She set a big bowl of soup down on my end table and pulled up my desk chair. "Are you ready to tell me about your trip?" she asked, a smile pulling at her lips.

I sat up and while I ate the delicious soup I told my mom all of the events from the trip-starting at when the bus broke down and ending with Angel and Gazzy seeing Iggy kiss me in their home. "Well Max, I'm happy to see that you have good taste in guys. Iggy is a wonderful young man and I'm happy you two found happiness in each other. Now," she said as she stood up. "Finish that soup and try to get some more sleep. I'll be back to check on you later." After she left, I sat there and drank the rest of my soup and realized that I had nothing to do. I hated being sick, my mom's rule was no getting out of bed unless absolutely necessary. This was going to be a very boring weekend, I just knew it.

I had spent an entire week rotting away in my room. By the time Saturday came around I was dying to get out of the house and see Iggy. "Please Mom," I pleaded. "Let me go see Iggy. I'm not sick anymore." My mom sat there for a minute, thinking.

"All right. Just for a little while though. I don't want you over exerting yourself," she responded. I sprung out of bed and threw my arms around her.

"Thank you," I cheered. It didn't take long for me to get ready and ten minutes later I was sitting in my car on the way to Iggy's. One of my mom's rules about sickness was that I wasn't allowed to see friends until my fever was gone. So, this was the first time I had seen anyone outside my family in a week.

I pulled into Iggy's driveway and honked the horn. A minute later the door was pulled open and Gazzy stuck his head out the door. He saw my car, waved, and turned back into the house to yell something. I got out of the car and stood on their doorstep. "Hi there Gazzy. How's life been?" I asked.

"Most of the time it's cool, but when I'm here I have to listen to Iggy complaining on how much he misses you. I'm so happy you're here," he said. I laughed and suddenly, I was lifted into the air and spun around. "What the…?" I yelled.

"It's so good to see you!" Iggy cheered. He put me down and I turned to face him. The smile on his face was huge and with a joyous cry I threw my arms around his neck.

"I've missed you. Do you have any idea how horrible this week has been for me?" I asked. I gave him a peck on the nose and I head Gazzy pretend to gag behind me. We both looked at him and laughed.

"Just wait Gazzy. Someday you're going to get a girlfriend too," Iggy taunted. Gazzy's face went white and he slowly retreated into their house, shutting the door.

"So what have I been missing at school?" I asked when Gazzy was gone.

"A lot actually. Tess wasn't happy that Dylan hurt his knee. Sam is still being Sam, he's still glad he didn't go on the trip and Lissa and Fang spoken at all. He's actually back to sit with us on a regular basis. But other than that, not a whole lot."

"Well that's good. Ella was my lifesaver for bringing me all my homework so I'm completely caught up. I probably could have gone back to school on Wednesday, but you know how my mom is with sickness. So, while I was cooped up in my little prison of sickness I was thinking of what we could do for Fang's birthday." Sometime during the week it hit me that Fang's birthday was coming up soon, so we didn't have a lot of time to plan anything. In past years we would spend weeks planning parties for each other, every year was something different so it would always be a surprise.

In my boredom, I had composed a list of ideas and I brought it with me to go over with Iggy. "What did you come up with?" Iggy asked looking at my list. "Oh I like that one." Iggy pointed to my fourth item on the list- a beach bonfire party. A lot of people had bonfires on the beach near where we lived all the time so I thought it would be fun to have one of our own.

"That's my favorite too. We'd have to wait for it to get pretty dark though. What should we do for the rest of the day?"

"Good question. I can't think of anything. Why don't you talk to Nudge? Maybe she has something planned for him." I nodded and pulled out my phone to send Nudge a quick text message. "So what are we going to need? I'll handle the food!" We had begun walking down the road, going nowhere in particular.

"Well there's enough driftwood on the beach to build a house so we won't need wood. Doesn't Sam still have all those old newspapers from his art project? We could use that as kindling. I think I'll be able to get a hold of some chairs and stuff to sit on. Oh, and Nudge can bring the lighter, it's small and easy to hide so Fang won't suspect anything. And if Dylan wants to come we can think of something for him to bring," I rambled.

"Hey don't you still have that old camping lantern?" I nodded. What could he be planning with a camping lantern? "We might need it for light until we get the fire lit. Flashlights don't cut it sometimes."

"That's a good idea. I think it's in our basement somewhere, I'll bring it." We finished our walk, and I realized we had walked around the block. "Well I need to get home now. My mom said that I can't over-exert myself. So I'll see you tomorrow, OK?" Iggy responded by kissing me lightly on the forehead.

"I'll see you tomorrow. But I'll call you tonight. Tell your family hi for me." I grinned and climbed back into my car and backed out of Iggy's driveway. This party was going to be awesome, it had to be. Not only was it a party for Fang's birthday, it was celebrating us all becoming friends again.


	15. A night full of suprises

**Me: The events of last chapter will make sense when you read this chapter. That's all I'm going to say though. So here's Iggy to do a brief disclaimer.**

**Iggy: Water Wolf 100 doesn't own any James Patterson characters.**

**Me: Thanks Iggy. **

**Iggy: Man, I still can't believe you did that. You are a cruel, cruel person…**

**Me: Shut up and let them read the chapter. **

Chapter 15: A night full of surprises

This week couldn't have been busier if it tried. Besides the usual going to school and doing homework junk, I was up to my ears in party preparations. I had gotten together with Nudge and we figured out a plan of what to do with Fang until it was party time. She had planned out a day of brother-sister bonding but she would have him back at their house at five o'clock so we could go to the party.

For the entire week my car had been filled with stuff we would need for the party. I hid seven lawn chairs in my trunk along with our old camping lantern. Dylan offered to bring blankets since it was supposed to be cool out and Iggy was in charge of the food.

When Saturday finally rolled around I could barely contain my excitement. It was a beautiful day out, cool but sunny, perfect for a bonfire. "Max?" Ella asked as she walked into my room. "Is there anything left to get ready for the party?"

"As long as Iggy and Dylan bring their stuff we'll be set," I said as I pulled my hair up into a ponytail. Nudge should have taken Fang out by now, if her schedule went according to plan. Ella flashed a smile and walked back out of my room to go eat breakfast.

Around lunchtime I heard my phone ring and I saw I had a text from Iggy. "Hey srry but ill hav 2 meet u party. Moms not home from work yet and I hav 2 watch gaz and ange. C u there k?" Before I had a chance to reply our house phone rang and I quickly snatched it up.

"Hello?" I said into the receiver.

"Hey baby-girl," a tired voice said from the other end of the line.

"Hi Dad! Have you made it to Santa Barbra yet?"

"Not yet. My car broke down a little bit ago. I'm stuck in Oxnard until it can get repaired. Just tell your mom when she gets home that I'll call when I get on the road again and when I get to Santa Barbra. I've got to go, bye Max." I muttered a good-bye and hung up the phone. I texted Iggy back about meeting us at the beach and then finally got to eat come lunch.

When five finally came around I sat on my deck with Ella and watched for Fang and Nudge to get home. "I see them!" Ella cheered when she spotted Fang's red car pull into their driveway. Ella and I looked at each other and then we sprang up and tore across the yard to the Brown's driveway.

"Happy birthday, Fang!" I yelled as I threw my arms around his neck. I let go and moved back so Ella could give him a hug as well. "How has your birthday been so far?

"Pretty cool actually. Nudge and I went to all of my favorite places," Fang said with more emotion in his voice then I thought was possible.

"Well it's about to get even better. Get in the car," I said. I jerked my thumb towards my car and smirked. Ella started giggling and I stomped on her foot. That shut her up pretty quickly. "Let's go!" Fang sat up front with me and Ella and Nudge sat in the back, whispering softly to themselves the entire time.

"OK I give. Where are we going?" Fang finally asked. I looked back at Ella and Nudge in the rearview mirror and gave a slight nod. Ella pulled a blindfold out of her pocket and tied it around Fang's eyes. "Hey! Come on guys, this isn't fair," Fang whined.

"You'll thank us, trust me," I said as I pulled onto the road that led to the beach. When I pulled into a parking spot I saw that Iggy and Dylan were already there. They were sitting on the back of Iggy's truck drinking pop.

"Hi guys!" Nudge yelled through the open window. They both turned their heads towards us and waved. I turned off my car and ran around to the other side to let Fang out.

"Come on Fang, you're going to love this!" I encouraged as I led him down the wooden path to where the bonfire was going to take place. It was already getting dark out so Ella and Nudge walked ahead of us with flashlights.

As we reached the sight of the fire, I saw that someone had already started it. Sam was sitting on the sand, poking the small flame with a metal stick. "Hey Sam," I called. He turned and waved happily then returned to tending to the fire.

"Who all is here?" Fang finally asked. I sat him down on the sand and motioned for everyone to stand around the fire. With a quick three-two-one countdown I pulled the blindfold off of Fang.

"Surprise!" everyone on the beach yelled. For a second Fang reeled back in surprise but then his face turned into one of happiness.

"Oh wow. This is so awesome! You guys put this all together?" Fang asked as he surveyed everything.

"It was mostly Max and Iggy. They just told us to show up and what to bring," Dylan said pointing to me and Iggy.

"Well we have a lot of stuff to go get from my car. Hey Ig, you want to help me?" I asked. With a quick smile and nod Iggy and I began walking back up the boardwalk to where my car was parked. "How did you guys get the fire started?" I asked Iggy as I opened my trunk.

"Sam had matches. We thought it would be better if the fire was started when you got here. It's much better then looking at an empty beach." He began talking about how much trouble the fire had been to start because of the wind and I began piling chairs into his outstretched arms. I took two chairs and the lantern and Iggy carried the rest of the chairs.

I didn't want to brag, but this was one of the best parties I had ever thrown. All seven of us had the most amazing time. We ate hot dogs and cake, played Frisbee in the dark, roasted a bunch of marshmallows and of course watched Fang open his presents. Everything went perfectly and I was so happy that I could make Fang's eighteenth birthday a good one.

Eventually we all sat down around the fire and simply talked. We hadn't done that in such a long time there were many things that had happened that not everyone knew. The temperature had cooled off considerably and we all were bundled up in blankets. I sat close to Iggy, the two of us sharing a blanket. We were listening to Nudge tell some story about her math teacher and how he actually fell asleep while everyone else was taking a test.

"Hey I know what would be fun," Ella said after Nudge finished her story. "We brought that old camping lantern how about we go down the beach a little with it lit and take pictures of our shadows." There was a mummer of agreements from the whole group and we all stood up and stretched.

"Max, is the lamp still by the cooler?" Iggy asked.

"Yeah. Here's the lighter," I said as I tossed him the small red lighter that I had brought with me. Iggy caught it and walked over to go light the lantern. Sam, Ella and I packed up the blankets while Fang and Nudge folded the chairs. We had just finished packing up when there was a loud whoosh and the sound of shattering glass. I did an instant three sixty to see what had happened and I felt my heart stop when I saw the spot my eyes landed on. It was Iggy, lying in the sand, with the lantern shattered to pieces on the ground next to him.

For a split second I stood there, unsure of what to do. I then forced myself to move and I ran over to Iggy as fast as I could. "Call 911!" I shouted. Ella whipped her phone out of her pocket and dialed the number then began frantically speaking to the person at the other end of the line. Fang and Sam rushed over to my side, but neither of them knew what to really do. "Iggy? Iggy please say something!" I cried. Fang tried to shake his shoulders but he got no response.

"I'm calling Mom," Nudge yelled and she got out her phone. Time seemed to completely stop as we sat there waiting for the ambulance. It took every ounce of will power I had to not burst into tears. Iggy's face was almost unrecognizable at that moment; it was covered with burn marks and there was blood everywhere from the shattered glass.

"Max is he awake?" Ella asked meekly. I held up my hand to keep her from coming any closer, Ella hated the sight of blood and I didn't want her seeing this.

"No Ells but don't worry the ambulance will be here soon and they'll take care of him," I encouraged, more to myself then to her. Nudge was sobbing into the phone and Dylan had taken out his own phone and was calling out our parents. It seemed like hours before we finally heard the sounds of a siren in the distance. Fang and I looked at each other and he sprang up and began sprinting down the boardwalk towards the parking lot.

Three EMT's carrying a stretcher came running down towards with Fang a minute later and without even asking us any questions they put him on the stretcher and carried him back to the ambulance. "Can I get one of you to come with me?" one of the three EMT's asked us once Iggy was inside.

"Fang, drive my car back to my house. Then can you three meet me at the hospital?" I asked. Fang nodded and I threw him my keys. I followed the EMT up to the ambulance and climbed in the back.

Slowly, the sight of the beach vanished from view and I turned my attention to the Iggy and the EMTs. "What's your name sweetheart?" a female EMT asked. She was sitting there with a laptop on her lap while the other two EMTs were busy taking care of Iggy.

"Maximum Batchelder," I said weakly. All of this was starting to sink in. I was sitting in the back of an ambulance while my boyfriend was being treated for some sort of explosion. It was unreal.

"All right Maximum. Can you give me the full name, address and phone number of this boy? Also your relationship to him?"

"His name is James Griffith. His address is 478 East Lockwood Avenue Maywood, California. His home phone number is two six eight forty-three seventeen. He, he's my boyfriend," I sputtered. The EMT nodded and began typing into her laptop. I sat there and stared at Iggy. He looked so, so broken. Just then there was a loud beeping sound and the three EMTs sprang up.

"He's flatlined!" one of the guys yelled. I jumped up and watched in horror as they unsuccessfully tried to re-start Iggy's heart. I was blinded by tears and the buzzing sound grew louder and louder in my ears. I pushed through the EMTs and took one of Iggy's hands in mine.

"Iggy Griffith," I sobbed. "You better not die on me!" Just then the constant drone of the machine changed to a low beeping sound. It was very slow, and very soft, but it was there.

"He's back. OK let's try to stabilize him," the other male said. I sat back down and sighed. For a moment I thought I was going to lose him. Deep down I knew that he had a long way to go but for right now he was all right and that was good enough for me. As we reached the hospital I looked out the window and saw Robin's car parked in the parking lot. She must have dropped everything to get there on time. The ambulance stopped and Iggy was wheeled into the ER where the doctors would try to save his life.

A nurse with a sympathetic smile on her face was left standing there when he was gone and she extended her hand out to me. "Come on Sweetie. Your family is waiting for you," she said. "Don't worry, they're going to take good care of him," she added when she saw me looking towards the doors to the ER.

When I got to the waiting room I saw that it wasn't only Iggy's family that was there. My mom, Ella, Fang, Fang's parents, Nudge, Dylan and Sam were all there also. All eyes were on me as I walked into the room and with a soft voice I whispered, "We almost lost him in the ambulance but he pulled through. I think he's going to make it." There was a collective sigh from every person in the room.

"Max," Robin asked shakily. "What happened?"

"I don't really know. Iggy was lighting the camping lantern I brought and there was this loud whoosh sound and shattering glass. I turned and he was lying in the sand and the lamp was shattered around him," I said shakily. That's when it hit me. It was my lantern. I had brought it with me. Was this my fault? Did I just endanger the lives of one of the most important people in my life?

Sobs shook through my body and I couldn't stop the flow of tears down my eyes. Robin wrapped her arms around me and whispered words of encouragement into my ear. "Max, promise me something. Whatever happens, do not blame yourself for this. You had no way of knowing that something like this would happen. It was an accident and there is no one blame," she said gently.

We sat in that waiting room for who knows how long. Everyone was eerily silent so I was left alone in my thoughts. What would I do if Iggy didn't come out of this alive? What would happen to his family? Robin has lost so much recently; if she lost Iggy I don't know if she would be able to take it. And how would Gazzy and Angel react? Iggy has been the closest thing to a father figure in their lives since they lost their dad. While I sat there in my thought, I felt a cool hand touch my shoulder and I turned my head to see Fang there. He smiled weakly at me but his eyes were full of fear.

I wondered how many times I was going to have to do this; sit and wait until someone told me if someone I cared about was going to live. It was just like waiting for the news on JJ. The ER was unusually slow this evening so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. There was one other man sitting there though I don't know what he was waiting for. A nurse came out and walked over to the man and whispered something to him. His entire face lit up and he gave the nurse a great big hug. Then together they walked back into the ER. I guess whoever he was waiting for was going to be all right-I was glad for them.

The minutes turned into hours as we sat there and waited. Gazzy and Angel had fallen asleep and I could see Ella and Nudge beginning to dose off as well. I was really glad that everyone was here-my family, Iggy's family, Fang's family as well as Sam and Dylan. If they weren't all here I don't know if I would have been to hold it together as well as I did.

At long last, the door to the ER opened and a woman in a doctor's coat walked out. "Are you all part of the Griffin party?" she asked. Her face showed exhaustion but the look in her eyes was more of sadness then tiredness. That made me worry even more then I had been before.

"Yes we are," Robin answered. "James is my son and these are our close family friends. How is my son?"

The doctor smiled tiredly. "He's going to live," she said. I could have fainted right there. A wave of relief washed over me and I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding. "Though," she continued. I felt my heart stop then, I wasn't sure if I wanted to hear what she had to say. "I'm sorry to say this but the shattered glass and extensive burns have seriously damaged his cornea and his retina."

"And what exactly does that mean?" my mom asked.

"It means; he's blind." The room went silent. No one dared to even breathe.

"Blind as in, completely and permanently?" Fang's dad asked. The doctor nodded.

"The damage was beyond our repair. His eyesight will never return. We haven't told him yet. My colleagues and I all agreed that it would be best for you to tell him. For now we've bandaged his eyes, at least until the area around his eyes heals enough to remove them"

"He's awake? Are we allowed to see him?" I asked quickly. All I wanted to do was see him, blind or not, he was my boyfriend and I loved him. I had spent too many hours waiting to find out if he was going to be ok to not see him now.

"Not all at once. Only one at a time is allowed I'm afraid," the doctor said. "I'll take you all back there now thought and those waiting to see him can sit in the hallway.

"Fang, Max why don't you two go with Robin? The rest of us will wait back here until you come back," Sara suggested. Fang and I looked at each other and nodded. Robin bent down and shook Gazzy and Angel awake. Rubbing their eyes they followed their mom into the ER. Fang and I followed behind and before the door closed I took one last look at my family. I was glad they were here.

When we reached Iggy's door my legs felt like they were made of Jell-o. Robin went in first so I sat on the floor with Fang, Gazzy and Angel. "Max?" Angel asked. "Is Iggy going to have all sorts of band-aids on his face?"

"Yeah sweetie. Iggy has a lot of burns on his face and he's going to have big bandages on his eyes so he won't be able to see you. Soon his face will get all better thought and they can take the bandages off," I explained. Angel nodded slowly, taking it all in. A little while later Robin opened the door and ushered Gazzy in.

"So what are you expecting?" Fang asked me when the door shut again.

"I'm not really sure. I know that whatever I expect it will be a lot worse in reality so I'm not trying to think about it. I-I'm just so happy he's alive. If I lost him, I don't know what I would have done." Fang didn't say anything; he just sat there and stared at the wall. Soon Gazzy walked out of the room and Angel stood up and walked into the room. Gazzy sank down to the floor and put his face in his hands.

"You ok Gazzy?" Fang asked. He slowly shook his head and his entire body was trembling. Fang and I looked at each other and Fang nodded. He stood up, and as if he was made of feathers, picked Gazzy up and carried him back out to the waiting room.

By the time the door opened again I could practically feel my heart in my stomach. Robin stepped out, carrying Angel in her arms. "Where's Michael?" she asked. I pointed back out to the waiting room and Robin nodded. "He was asking about you. He can't wait for you to go see him." I gave Robin a one armed hug and ruffled Angel's soft hair. Slowly, I swallowed my fear, opened the door and walked in.

The sight before me took my breath away. If I didn't know that it was Iggy sitting in the bed, I never would have been able to tell who it was. Most of his face was covered with deep, angry burn marks and the areas that weren't had thick gauze bandages on them. Over his eyes was a thick ribbon of gauze and medical tape. There were all sorts of wires connected to obnoxious beeping machines and IV's in his arms.

I took a tentative step forward. Did he know I was there? "Hey Ig," I finally said softly. He turned his head to face me and somehow under all the bandages I saw the same brilliant smile of his that I loved.

"Max," he said hoarsely. "Thank you."

"For what?" I asked. What on earth could he be thanking me for? If anything, he should be upset that my lantern exploded in his face.

"In the ambulance. I heard you, I heard you telling me not to die. Hearing your voice, it brought me back. If it wasn't for you I might not be here," he told me. I felt my heart skip a beat when I heard that. Was that true? Was it even possible?

"Ig, I, well I, I'm just so sorry!" I cried. Since his face was so bandaged it was hard for me to tell what facial expression he was making.

"Did you honestly think for a second that I blamed you for this? Oh Max, this isn't your fault. It was a total accident and soon I'll be better and we can get on with our lives." When I heard him say that I began choking up. Things were never going to be the same again. Would Iggy still think that it wasn't my fault when he found out he would never see again? Would he end up hating me? All of these questions running through my mind at hyper speed. "Max? What's wrong?"

"N-nothing," I stuttered. "I'm just so happy you're alive. I thought I was going to lose you." I inched my way over to the edge of his bed and took his pale hand in mine. His muscles seemed to relax when I stood there with my hand in his. "Ig, I have to go now. I'm sure Fang wants to see you too. I'll come and visit you tomorrow though OK?"

"All right. When you come can you bring me food? Hospital food is so nasty and they never serve enough. If I don't get real food I think I will die in this place," Iggy said with the best goody grin he could manage.

"Of course. I'll come afternoon. You just try and get some rest and actually listen to the nurses. I know how hard that will be for you. I'll see you tomorrow," I said as I gave his hand one final squeeze. I kissed my hand and gently placed in on the side of his face. Wiping tears out of my face I left the room and saw Fang standing there, waiting.

"How is he?" Fang asked as I walked out.

"He's ok. I just felt so horrible while I was in there. He told me that it wasn't my fault, but will he say the same thing when he finds out that he's never going to see again?" Fang took a step forward and wrapped his arms around me in a secure hug. It wasn't as good as one of Iggy's hugs but I would take what I could get at that moment. "Your mom went to take Ella home and she asked me to bring you back. Once I see Iggy we'll go all right?" I nodded and took the spot where Fang had been standing. He walked into the room and shut the door.

Fang was in there for a while; I had no idea what they were talking about. A couple times a nurse or doctor would walk by and asked if I would like to go back to the waiting room but every time I told them I would wait. Eventually I must have dozed off since once minute I was sitting in the hospital hallway and the next I was riding in Fang's car. "We're almost home," Fang muttered when he saw me sit up in my seat. His eyes were fixed on the road, his hands gripping the steering wheel in an iron grip.

"How was your conversation with Iggy? You were in there a while," I said casually.

"We just talked about stuff. It's been a while since we've done that. Oh and he wanted me to remind you that what happened isn't your fault. He also wants us to get his truck and bring it back to his house for him sometimes tomorrow." We continued to have a simple conversation about the rest of the party, everything before the accident at least. Fang pulled his car into his driveway and I opened the door and climbed out.

"Thanks for the ride Fang. Text me when you want to go pick up Iggy's truck. If I'm not at home, I'll be at the hospital. Fang nodded, gave a small wave and walked briskly up the stairs to his house. I found my key in m back pocket and unlocked the door. My mom was sitting in the kitchen, a steaming mug of tea in front of her.

"Hi Honey. I'm sorry I left you at the hospital but Ella was falling asleep and I didn't know how long you were going to be," she apologized when she saw me walk in.

I shrugged and sat down across from her at the table. I placed my head in my hands and began rubbing my temples. I had a killer headache and was looking forward to getting some much needed sleep. "So how was he?" my mom finally asked.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down before saying, "I've never seen anyone so broken. I could barely see most of his face; it was so covered with bandages. I couldn't even look at him without crying. Mom, is it my fault? It was our lantern; I should have tested it before I brought it to the party. Should it have been me in there?" My mom reached across the table and took my hand.

"Max, it is most defiantly not your fault. Accidents happen. I talked to a policeman while you were talking to Iggy. He said that the reason the lantern exploded was because of a misadjusted gas valve."

"Did Robin say when she was going to tell him?"

"No, not yet. I'm sure she needs to let it sink in before she says anything to him." I sighed. How long would I have to go pretending that everything will go back to normal?

Iggy POV

I felt horrible. Not horrible as in I was in plain; the doctors gave me a ton of pain meds so I felt fine physically. What I felt horrible about was Max. Even though I told her not to blame herself for this I knew that she did. That's just the way she is, she feels the need to take responsibility for things that are out of her control.

"James?" a voice asked. I couldn't see who it was since I had big thick bandages over my eyes but I assumed it was either a doctor or a nurse. "Is there anything else you need before the nurses go home for the evening?"

"No thank you. I think I'll be all right for the evening," I said. I thought I heard the nurse say something else but I had tuned her out at that point. My thoughts were on Max. That and the conversation I had with Fang. I let my memories carry me back to the conversation from a few hours ago.

~flashback~

"Hey man, how are you feeling?" Fang asked. I turned my head in the direction of the voice and smiled as best as I could.

"Good, until the pain meds wear off at least," I replied with a shrug. We talked about random stuff for a while, like school and the class trip, just catching up. Eventually I couldn't take waiting anymore. "Fang," I asked. "Does Max really think this is her fault?" Fang didn't say anything for a minute. I was anxious to hear what he had to say. I wanted to know how Max was reacting to this.

"Yeah. She does. She's convinced that if it wasn't for her bringing that lantern you wouldn't be here," Fang said solemnly.

"Listen Fang, I need you to do me a favor. Keep telling Max this isn't her fault. I know she's going to blame herself for this; so please do everything in your power from letting her do that," I said sternly. If I knew Max, which I did inside and out, she would probably have some kind of emotional withdrawal from the world until she felt better about all of this. "And Fang, until I get out here, take care of her. Be her rock, she's going to need one."

"I'd be happy to," Fang replied. Even though I couldn't see his face, I knew he was smiling. I stretched out my hand, palm up and I waited for Fang to do the next part the handshake. He pounded his fist on top of mine once, then high fived the top of my hand and then we did a high five with the back of our hands. I then pounded his palm once with my fist, completing the handshake. "Feel better Ig, I have to go take Max home. I'll come see you tomorrow though. Oh, and do you think you can get me the number of one of the nurses?"

"Dude, they're so out of your league," I replied trying to suppress a laugh. If I could have seen Fang's face then I think it would have been a smirk lined with fake hurt. "See you later Man," I added as I heard the door open.

~End flashback~

I trusted Fang; after all, he was one of my best friends. He was like a brother to me. Though for some reason I felt worried about Max. I settled back into my pillows and sighed. The continuous beeping of the machines was beginning to drive me up the wall and I shuddered at the thought of the countless hours I would have to sit here listening to them.

Soon sleep seemed inevitable and I tried to relax my body so I could try and get at least a few hours of sleep. After about fifteen minutes I was finally able to ignore the constant beeping and relax. As I slowly began drifting into a light sleep my thoughts returned to Max and how excited I was to see her beautiful smiling face and shimmering brown eyes.

Iggy: I told you all she was a horrible person! She made me blind!

Me: It needed to happen. Sorry Iggy, I know how much you enjoyed your eyesight in this story. Oh and I would like to thank flYEgurl for suggesting making Iggy blind. It was an excellent plot twist that I hadn't originally thought of. It'll be a few days before my next chapter thought because I've have a lot of work and not a lot of writing time so I've fallen behind on my chapters. But I'll update as soon as possible!


	16. The Shocking Truth

**Me: I am sooooooo super sorry for the long break. This chapter was really hard for me to write for some reason. I kept getting *whispers* Writer's block. It was awful-I couldn't think of enough things to put in the chapter so I had to add some stuff that I wasn't intending to but I think in the end it'll be worth it. Thank you all for being patient with me and hopefully my next chapter won't take as long to write. **

**Iggy: I won't make you all wait any longer-Water Wolf 100 does not own Maximum Ride characters. Please review!**

Chapter 16: The shocking truth

Max POV

The next morning I woke up feeling horrible. Almost the entire night I had been tossing and turning around in my bed. So much had been weighing on my mind recently. Besides thinking about Iggy most of the time, I remembered around two-thirty that Wednesday was our last day of school until the New Year. Christmas was coming up soon but I honestly don't think that any of us are going to be in a very festive mood.

"Good morning Max," Ella called when she heard me get up.

"What's so good about?" I asked irritably. Today was one of those days that I wasn't in a good mood and for people's health and safety they should stay away from me. Ella took one look at the irritated expression on my face and slowly retreated into her room. There was a soft click as she locked her door. Smart girl.

I spent a great deal of my morning in my pajamas, sitting in front of the TV. Around twelve, I figured it was time to get up and go see Iggy. I promised him I would bring him some real food so I had to remember to stop at some fast food place and get him something. "I'm going to the hospital Ells!" I yelled when I finished getting ready. I heard a muffled sound coming from Ella's door and I assumed it was her saying 'OK'. As I grabbed my keys and walked out the door I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. What if Iggy ended up blaming me once he found out he was going to be blind? Would he hate me? Would he break up with me?

I shoved the thoughts from my mind as I began to back my car out of my driveway. After I picked up some In N' Out Burger I realized the ride to the hospital seemed longer then it normally did and once I finally got to the hospital, I felt like I was going to be sick. It was the worst feeling in the entire world, this constant dread I felt.

As I walked through the hospital doors I didn't see too many people, which was good in my mind. "How can I help you?" the lady at the front desk asked. The first thing I noticed about her was that she had on way to much lipstick. It made her look like some sort of circus clown.

"I'm here to see James Griffith," I said as I tried to not look at her face. Her lipstick was really starting to creep me out. She smiled sweetly and pointed to the hallway that led to the ER. With a small smile of my own I walked briskly down the hallway. When I reached his door I heard voices from the other side, but I dismissed them as a TV show.

As I raised my hand to knock I heard someone say, "Iggy don't be mad at Max. She didn't mean for it to happen." I froze, mid-knock. My heart stopped beating and everything around me was a blur. Had he changed his mind? Did Iggy think this was my fault? I had been right all along. Since I had no feeling in my body what so ever; I didn't even notice the door open.

"Max," Robin said breathlessly. At that instant, all feeling returned to my legs. I took one fleeting look past Robin and saw Iggy sitting there with Angel at his side. Then, I turned and ran. I had no idea where I was running to, or what I would do when I got to wherever I was going. All I knew was that I needed to put as much distance between myself and Iggy as I humanly could.

I eventually stopped running at the point where I felt my lungs were going to explode. I was somewhere on the other side of the hospital, on the second floor. Near me was a sign that read 'Children's' Wing'. All of the rooms were brightly colored and there were paintings of animals on the walls in the hallway. It was actually a fairly cute place.

Slowly I made my way down one of the halls and stopped in front of an open door. The room was painted bright yellow with blue and pink daises on it. There wasn't a whole lot in the way of furniture, but there was a small bed that had dozens of stuffed animals on it. Lost amidst all those animals was a young girl, not much older than Angel. Her bright green eyes sparkled as she looked out towards the hallway. The second thing I noticed was a bright pink bandana around her head. "Hi," she said cheerfully when she saw me. "What's your name?"

I stood there for a moment, to stunned to speak. "I'm Max," I finally said.

"I'm Brianna. Do you want to come look at my horses?" As I looked at her I noticed that she had about ten different horse animals sitting on her bed. "They love meeting new people."

"Sure I guess," I said tentatively. I crossed the doorway and stood next to Brianna's bed. She spent some time showing me all of her horses and other stuffed animals.

"I have more at home but I don't get to play with them a lot since I'm always here. My mommy says that once all the yucky stuff in me is gone I'll get to go home though. Then I can play with all my animals." I smiled gently at her. She was probably too young to know what was really wrong with her. Suddenly, Brianna perked her head up and looked around me towards the door. "Hi Sissy!" she said excitedly. "I made a new friend. This is Max. Max, this is my big sister." I turned my head slightly to see the last person I expected. Lissa was standing in the door, a look of hatred, confusion and sadness all over her face.

It was all a little too awkward for me so I set down Brianna's horse and scooted past Lissa and into the hallway. This just wasn't my day. I was about halfway down the hall when I felt a cold hand grab my wrist. "Max wait," Lissa said. I stopped and stared at her. The girl in front of me looked nothing like the same evil witch that had made my life miserable all school year. This Lissa looked so broken and afraid. "I-I just wanted to say I'm sorry about Iggy. That must have been a horrible accident." My mind was too numb to respond. Lissa was talking to me, and not insulting me. She was actually apologizing.

"Th-thanks," I finally managed to sputter out. "You're sister seems really sweet." I added for some reason.

"Thank you. I was pretty surprised to see you in there when I came. She really likes meeting new people so she'll be talking about you for a while."

"What does she have?" I asked. I figured it was rude to ask but curiosity got the best of me. Plus, Lissa has been rude to me all semester.

Lissa sighed and looked at me. The expression on her face was filled with pain and sadness. "Leukemia. She has Leukemia. She got it last spring and has been fighting ever since. Though, the doctors think it's coming to an end," she finally said. The look on her face told me that she didn't mean that it was going to heal. "We haven't told her yet though. She still thinks she's going to go home soon." Even though she tried to hide it, I noticed the tears starting to fall down her face.

I had no idea what came over me, but I wrapped my arms around her and gave her the biggest hug I could imagine. To my surprise, she returned it. I'm sure if anyone from my school saw this they would drop dead in shock. It had to be an interesting sight. We let go of each other and I gave Lissa a reassuring smile. "Max," she said. "Whatever goes down between you and Iggy don't let it separate you. I know its cliché but you honestly don't know how important something is to you until it's gone."

"How did you know that-"

"If there isn't a problem then why are you in the Children's Wing instead of with your boyfriend?" she asked with a knowing smirk on her face. "Well, what are you still doing here? Go see that boyfriend of yours!" I smiled and started to walk away when Lissa called back to me, "And Max, thank you." With a wave and a small smile I began walking back towards Iggy's room.

When I reached his door I saw that it was open and it was silent inside the room. "Hello? Ig, are you in here?" I called from the doorway. The curtains were drawn and there were no lamps on giving the room an ominous light to it.

"Who is it?" I heard Iggy ask from the middle of the room.

"Max. Can I come in Iggy?" I asked softly.

"Sure," he muttered. I crossed into the room and waited for my eyes to adjust to the sudden darkness. The only light in the room was one of the machines timer things. It was right next to Iggy's bed and it gave his skin a scary red tone. "My mom said you stopped by earlier"

"Um yeah I did. I was about to knock on the door when I heard someone say something about you not being mad at me. I guess I assumed that you were mad at me for all of this so I figured I'd give you some space," I said as played with my hair nervously. I heard a rustle of the sheets and I figured that Iggy was trying to sit up more.

"I'm not mad at you. Angel said that right before my mom told me what happened to my eyes. It's not your fault Max." I let out a silent sigh. That was one problem solved; now I didn't have to worry about him hating me.

I knew Iggy well enough to know that what he was saying wasn't the whole truth. Perhaps he didn't hate me, but there was something else in his voice. "Iggy, I know you're upset about this. Actually, that's the understatement of the millennium but if there's something you want to do or say just tell me. Don't hide it from me; I know there's something you're not saying." Iggy shifted uncomfortably in his bed. I had never seen Iggy so reluctant to say something. Usually he was the one to get someone else to talk about their problems.

I moved closer to him and put my hand on his arm. At first he flinched away but then he relaxed. Iggy then moved his arm and found my hand and held it with his. "I'm scared," he whispered softly. That was the first time in all my years of knowing him that he had ever admitted to being afraid of something. He always covered up his fears, but this time was different. "The world is such a big place. How will I be able to find my way around if I can't see it?"

I felt Iggy tighten his grip around my hand and his face was filed with pain. Every fiber in my body wanted to do something to help him but I didn't know what I could do. "You'll be able to learn again Iggy and I'll be there to help you," I said encouragingly.

"Really?" he asked as he turned his head in my direction.

"Did you think otherwise?"

"Well, the haunting thought crossed my mind that you wouldn't want to be in a relationship with me," he mumbled. I was about three seconds from smacking him in the face when he said that. Sometimes I wonder how he could be so dense.

Just to prove him wrong I leaned over the bed and kissed him gently. "You're an idiot," I said when I pulled away. "Iggy I love you, why on earth would I break up with you just because you can't see anymore?" He gave me a small smile and I gave him another kiss on the forehead. "I will never leave you. We've been through way to much together for us to split up now."

"I hoped you would say that."

"Just promise me one thing. Don't push anyone away. Don't sit around feeling sorry for yourself. Just because you can't see doesn't mean that you can't do anything anymore," I demanded. The last thing I wanted was for Iggy to be withdrawn from the world. This was our senior year and I wasn't going to let him miss it.

"That's two things. But I promise. I'll try my hardest to fit back into the world, but you're going to have to give me some time."

"Of course," I said softly. There was a minute of awkward silence but it was broken by the sound of Iggy's stomach growling. We both started laughing and I glanced down at my watch. It was already one, no wonder Iggy was hungry.

"So did you bring me food like you promised?" Iggy asked hopefully. I laughed as I remembered the bag of In N' Out Burger I had set on the floor.

"Of course I did. One meal from In N' Out Burger ready for consumption," I said laughing as I set out the burger and fries on the meal. "It has everything you want on it." Iggy licked his lips hungrily and felt around until he found the burger. I think he set a world record for fastest eating of a double hamburger. It was almost scary.

"That was so good," Iggy finally said after he finished his food. I laughed and threw the bag in the trash can next to the bed. "What time is it?"

"About one-ten. Why?"

"Turn on the TV! Channel eight!" Iggy yelled. I looked around for the remote and quickly turned the TV on. There was a buzz as the screen came to life and I saw that there was some hockey game on. I pressed eight and the TV changed to ABC. I had no idea what show was playing, it looked like some lame soap opera. I glanced over at Iggy who was listening carefully, a frown forming on his face. "Nope that's not it," he said sadly.

I turned the TV off and set the remote down next to the bed. "What were you hoping it to be?" I asked.

"General Hospital. But I think it was on earlier. The show that was just on was All My Children. Oh well, I'll just have my mom record it for me. Not that I will actually be able to watch it or anything." I gave Iggy a disapproving glare then realized that there was no point to it.

"I'm giving you a disapproving glare," I said as I continued to stare at him.

"Oh I know that face. I can totally see it in my head. Man, you must look at me disapprovingly a lot if I can see it in my head," Iggy said with a laugh. He stuck his tongue out at me and I rolled my eyes.

I was really happy to see that Iggy was acting like his normal goofy self but I knew that it would be a long bumpy road ahead of us.

* * *

Nearly two weeks passed until Iggy came out of the hospital. I spent every afternoon in his room and most of my weekends as well. I told him about things that were happening at school, at home and just what was going on the world in general.

Most of his injuries had healed, but you could see some of the scars on his face where the glass had cut him. The day they took the bandages off of his eyes had been especially emotional for me. It was so weird to look into his eyes but know that he couldn't see me back.

Despite Iggy saying repeatedly that he was fine; the doctors insisted that he talked to some grief counselor. According to Iggy, going to see her was more depressing then being blind. He told me that she reminded him of his grandmother. Apparently she spoke in some super sweet, sugar coated voice that teachers save for kindergarteners.

In all the insanity of trying to get back to normal life I remembered that Christmas was coming up. When I remembered that it was coming up I found the nearest calendar and realized that it was December twenty-second. "Ella!" I yelled down the hallway.

"What?" I heard her call from the other side of her door.

"Did you know that it was three days until Christmas?" My mind started racing through all the people that I needed to get gifts for and what I had to get them.

"Yeah. Didn't you? I thought it would have been obvious with all the Christmas decorations in the house," Ella said. She opened her door and looked at me with an expression that said 'how stupid are you?' She was right, our decorations had been up for a while but I hadn't paid any attention to them. "You haven't gone shopping yet have you?"

"Umm, no not yet. But I will today." That was the great thing about being on break; I had time to actually do stuff during the day. "Do you want to come? I actually already have your gift so you're more than welcome to." Ella shrugged then vanished into her room only to reappear with her Ugg boots in hand.

I grabbed my jacket, shoved my hands through the sleeves and walked out to my car. Ella followed closely and sat in the shotgun seat. As we drove I thought of all the things I needed to buy. I had gotten Ella a pair of boots that she had been wanting, I was getting my mom some new perfume, and I got my dad a new briefcase since his old one was falling apart. That only left gifts for Iggy, Fang, Sam, Dylan, Nudge, Angel and Gazzy.

Ella and I spent nearly the entire day at the mall. It took a long time but I finally found perfect gifts for all of my friends. I got Gazzy a book on war history which he seemed to be very interested in. Angel was getting a stuffed horse that neighed when you squeezed it. I got Nudge a make-up kit thing, Ella helped me pick that one out. For Dylan I got a gift certificate to the coffee shop next to where he works. Sam actually made it easy for me and asked specifically for some sort of power cord for his computer; it was the easiest gift to get.

Fang and Iggy were always the most difficult people for me to get gifts for. Since I was closer to them then my other friends I always had to make sure their gifts were perfect. After going to about ten different stores I finally found a perfect gift for Fang. It was a new guitar stand that was pure black with a blood red design on the bottom that looked like vines snaking around it. Fang had been saying for months that he needed a new guitar stand after Nudge accidently broke his old one.

Iggy was the most difficult gift to get. I wanted to get him something that he would love and be able to appreciate without the use of his eyes.

"Ugh this is so frustrating," I cried as I hit my head against the steering wheel. Ella sighed and patted my shoulder. I was amazed she wasn't yelling at me to shut up since I had been going on and on about this for almost ten minutes.

"Max, Iggy will love anything you get him because he loves you," she soothed. I groaned and hit my head even harder on the steering wheel. Ella's encouragement didn't help me at all; in fact it made it even worse.

"Let's just go home. This is starting to give me a major headache," I said as I turned my car back on. I didn't say a word the entire ride home; my mind was too deep in thought about what to get Iggy. When we got home I grabbed all my bags and went straight up to my room. I shoved everything in my closet and fell face first onto my bed.

I felt my phone vibrate in my back pocket and with a groan I pulled it out and looked at the caller ID. I did a double take when I saw Iggy's name and picture show up on the screen. "Hello?" I asked when I flipped the phone open.

"Max? It's Gazzy. You need to come here now. It's really really important. Please hurry!" I heard Gazzy yell into the phone. I nearly dropped my phone as I flew off of my bed and ran out the door.

"Gazzy whatever's going on just stay calm and I'll be there as soon as I can," I said rapidly as I pulled my shoes on. "Ella! I'm going to Iggy's. Something's wrong!" I screamed up the stairs. Without waiting for a reply I ran out the door. I don't know how fast I drove but it was only a few minutes before I got to Iggy's house. Angel was standing in the doorway with a tear stained face.

From inside I could hear people yelling in anger. It sounded like Iggy and Robin. "James, please I'm only doing this for your own good!" Robin yelled. As I walked up the front steps, Angel ran up to me and threw her little body around my waist.

"You're here," Angel sobbed into my shirt. I lifted her up so that her face was even with mine and began to wipe her tears away.

"What's wrong Ange?" I asked soothingly. She turned slightly and pointed into the house where the shouting continued. In all the years I had known the Griffith's I had never heard Iggy and Robin yell at each other like this. "Are Mommy and Iggy fighting?" Angel nodded and wrapped her skinny arms around my neck. I carried her inside to find a stone-faced Gazzy sitting on the couch. When he saw me come in he jumped up and hugged me tightly.

"If anyone can make them stop it's you, Max," Gazzy muttered as he hugged me. I set Angel down and de-tangled Gazzy's arms from around my waist and slowly made my way up the stairs. Robin was standing out-side Iggy's door, looking quite flustered.

"James, I'm not happy about this either. This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life. Don't make this more difficult than it needs to be," she said. There was no response from the other side of the door. As I reached the top of the stairs Robin turned and saw me standing there. "Max, what are you doing here?"

"Michael called me. He said something was wrong and that I had to get here as soon as possible. Is everything all right?" I asked. I looked between Robin and Iggy's shut door. Robin's face wasn't just red, it was tear-stained. Whatever was going on, it was serious.

"I think James should be the one to tell you. Unfortunately, I can't get him to open the door." I had to force myself to keep from smiling at that. Iggy was pretty smart to figure out to lock his door without even being able to see.

"Want me to try?" I asked. Robin gestured towards the door and stepped back. I knelt on the ground and pulled a bobby pin out of my hair. I bent it out of shape and shoved it into the lock. A few minutes later there was a soft click and I grinned evilly. "When you have a little sister, you learn how to pick locks," I said as I bent the bobby pin back into place and placed back in my hair.

I slowly turned the knob and pushed the door open. Robin looked over my shoulder for a moment then turned and walked back down the stairs. I found Iggy lying on his stomach on his bed. One of his pillows was over his head and he was lying very still. "Ig?" I asked as I shut his door again. I saw his head cock slightly but he didn't actually get up.

"What?" I heard him ask through the blanket. I sat down next to him and pulled the pillow off of his head. Iggy rolled onto his back and sat there not blinking.

"Gazzy called me on your phone and said that something was really wrong. Then I heard you and your mom fighting. You wanna talk about it?" I asked. I took a hold of his hand and I could feel how tense his muscles were. Iggy turned his head in my direction even though I knew he couldn't see me. It still freaked me out how his eyes could be the same beautiful blue even though they couldn't see anything.

"It's not good Max. My mom, she, she's wants to send me to a school for the blind." It took me a second to process this. Iggy was going to switch schools; I wouldn't have class with him anymore. But that didn't mean I couldn't see him all the time.

"Well we'll just have to hang out all the time outside of school," I said hopefully.

"No Max that won't work. The school is in Fremont." I felt like I had been hit by a ton of bricks. Fremont was in the Bay Area, almost six hours from LA. I was going to be six hours from Iggy. I don't know if I could survive that. "I don't want to go but my mom is forcing me to. That's why we were fighting. Max I don't want to go. I can't leave you, or anyone else for that matter." Iggy was actually crying now, faint tears were rolling down his cheeks and his body was shaking with sobs.

With a cry I threw my arms around his neck and together we sat there and cried. Iggy has been with me since we were four, and now we have to split apart? It was just too much for me to handle. I felt Iggy stroke my hair as I continued to sob into his shirt.

There was a knock on the door and Iggy and I snapped our heads towards the door, and I saw that it was only to see that it was Angel standing there. "Iggy, are you really going away?" she asked timidly.

"I think so Ange. I have to go to a special school for other kids who can't see," he said. Iggy beckoned for Angel to come to him and she ran across the room and flung herself into his arms.

"But I don't want you to go," she cried. I joined in on the hug and I felt more hot tears run down my face. "I'll miss you too much."

"Angel, I would have had to go soon anyway. Remember, I was going to go away to college. It's like that only I'll be leaving a little bit earlier then I had wanted to," Iggy said as he rubbed circles on Angel's small back. She didn't say anything in response, she just sat there in Iggy's arms and cried some more.

I felt another pair of arms wrap their way around me and I glanced down to see Gazzy standing next to the bed as well. I put one of my arms around him and the four of us all just sat there crying. "I can't believe this is happening. We were just starting to make things work and now this happens," Iggy muttered angrily.

"We'll make it work Iggy. We always make things work," I coaxed.

"How? We're going to be six hours from each other! I doubt your mom will let you drive six hours to come see me and it's not like I can get in a car and come home if I wanted to," he snapped back angrily. Angel, Gazzy and I all jerked back at the harshness in Iggy's voice. His face softened when he realized how angry he had sounded. "I-I'm sorry," he said sadly. Iggy hung his head in shame and began fiddling with a woven bracelet he had around his wrist.

"You shouldn't be the one who's sorry Iggy. It's not your fault that this all is happening," I said. In my mind I also said 'it's mine'. I didn't want Iggy to know that I still felt somewhat responsible for what happened that night.

I think Iggy was about to say something but before he could there was a knock on the door and Robin walked in. "Max your mom called. She said you need to come home for dinner."

"Mom, get out of my room," Iggy said irritably. He crossed his arms and stared in the general direction of his mom. Robin held up her hands and backed out of the room. I sighed and got up from Iggy's bed.

"I have to go Ig. My dad is home for the weekend; so we're having a big family dinner tonight. I'll call you tonight," I said. I leaned over and kissed him gently. "And don't worry, everything will work out in the end," I added. I ruffled Angel and Gazzy's hair and walked out of the room. Robin was sitting at the kitchen table, her face in her hands.

"Thank you, Max. I'm glad you came over though I'm sorry Michael worried you," she said when she heard me come down the stairs. I smiled and gave a small wave as I walked out of the house and out towards my car. As I turned on the car, more tears began coming out. I just couldn't believe it, Iggy was really leaving. What was I going to do without the most important person in my life?

**Me: Again I'm very sorry for the long break. I hope this chapter was worth it though. **


	17. A present and a loss

**ZOMG! I'm sooooo sorry about taking so long to update. I hope I haven't lost anyone's interest in this story. There are only three chapters left after this one but once this is done I'll be starting my new story. I'll give you all more info about it at the end of the stroy. Well, here's my favorite blind pyro to give another disclaimer. **

**Iggy: Water Wolf 100 doesn't own me, or any of James Patterson's other characters. Or for that matter, any pop culture reference found at any point in the story. Also, the rock paper scissors theory does not belong to her. **

**Me: Thanks Iggy. You know, recently, things have been going a lot easier when it comes to giving disclaimers.**

**Iggy: That might have something to do with the fact that you threatened to leave me unprotected in a room full of fangirls if I didn't cooperate.**

**Me: (nervous laugh) I have no idea what he's talking about. He must be breathing too many fumes from his bombs. Well, enjoy the chapter!**

Chapter 17: A present and a loss

When I walked into my house my family was still sitting around the table, waiting to start dinner. I sat down and stared down at my plate. It was all of my dad's favorites- hamburgers, corn on the cob and those wavy French fries. My parents and Ella spent the evening chatting away happily, while I sat there in silence and played with my food. "Max what's wrong?" my mom finally asked. I looked up at her but didn't say anything. I wasn't in much of a talking mood.

"Does this have something to do with going over to Iggy's? Did you two have a fight?" Ella asked casually. I shot her a death glare so violent I actually saw her shudder. Forcefully I stood up and carried my half-full plate over to the sink. With one last fleeting look at my family; I walked upstairs and closed my bedroom door.

With a moan I fell back onto my bed and stared at the ceiling. Once again everything I knew was crumbling down around me. My life has been spinning out of control and I didn't know how to make it stop. A sort knock brought me out of my thoughts. "Honey, can I come in?" my mom asked. She pushed my door open and walked into my room. "What's going on Max?"

"Iggy," I muttered.

"Did you two have a fight?" my mom asked, repeating Ella's question. I sat up and looked at her. I shook my head and crossed my legs on the bed, making room for her to sit down.

"No, we didn't fight about anything. Mom, Iggy's going to a different school. Some school for the blind-it's in Fremont." My mom's mouth dropped open and she wrapped her arms around me in a huge hug. I wasn't exactly in a huggy mood so I just sat there and waited for her to let go of me. "I don't know when he's leaving though. Probably soon."

"Oh Max," my mom gasped. I nodded in silence and she gave me another big hug before pulling away. "Don't worry Sweetheart, it may seem bad now but things will get better soon."

"Mom, the only way for things to get better if for Iggy to get his sight back, for JJ to be back and all in all for this horrible year to be over," I said sadly. It seems like forever ago that we were having the summer of our lives and everything seemed right. Those days were long gone and I knew my life would never be like that again. As I sat there and thought about it, I began to feel suffocated. I had to get out of my house, right then and there. "I'm going for a walk," I announced. "I'll be back in a little bit." My mom didn't stop me as I grabbed my jacket and walked out the door.

For almost an hour I wandered around the streets in my neighborhood. I made a point to stay away from Iggy's street or else I might start crying again. I somehow ended up at the park. Memories came flooding back to me of that place- good and bad. All the fun times I had there with Fang and Iggy, those were the good days. Of course, those days were long gone.

I rocked back and forth on one of the old creaky swings. With each movement there was another obnoxious squeak from the rusty chains. It was something I had never noticed as a kid but back then I didn't pay attention to a lot of things. Now, as I look back, I wish I had. From the parking lot, I saw headlights of a car. My heart skipped a beat, but then I recognized the car. It was Fang's car. But what was he doing here? "Max!" he yelled from his car door. I stood up and headed towards him. He met me halfway and gave me a hug. "I heard through the grape vine that something happened between you and Iggy? Are you OK?"

"Let me guess. You heard from Nudge, who heard from Ella, who I am now extremely made at for telling people this," I said irritably. I made a mental note to kill Ella as soon as I got home. "Ella doesn't know anything. I didn't get into a fight with Iggy." Fang looked at me with a puzzled look on his face.

"Then what happened?" he asked quietly.

"Well today I got a call from Gazzy saying I had to go over to their house as soon as possible because something was very wrong. Turns out, it was Iggy and Robin having a huge fight. And well, Iggy's going to a different school. He's going to a school for the blind, in Fremont." Fang stood there in shock, mouth wide open.

"He's leaving?" he finally sputtered. I nodded sadly as Fang ran his hand through his hair. "This isn't happening. This has to be some horrible nightmare."

"Yeah, or some sort of bad soap opera," I agreed.

"Maybe we should head back. It's getting late." I nodded and climbed into Fang's car. As he backed out of his parking spot I drew my knees up to my chest and stared out the window. When we got back to our houses, Fang parked in his driveway and turned off his car.

"Thanks for the ride back Fang," I mumbled. I opened the door and started to walk back to my house.

"Max, everything will work out," Fang called back after me. How I wished I could believe him.

I woke up the next morning very groggy; I had hardly slept all night. Deep down I knew today was going to be one of those days that I wished would not exist. As I rolled out of bed my eyes fell on my closet and I remembered that I still didn't get Iggy a Christmas present! "Crap!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. Since I was distracted by the thought of Christmas presents I didn't notice that I had left my shoes on the floor. Naturally, I tripped over then and landed to the floor with a thud. That in turn shook my desk and a picture frame fell on top of my head.

"Double crap!" I yelled even louder. I sat up and looked at the picture while I rubbed my aching head. Nine smiling faces beamed back at me. In the front was me, Fang and Iggy and behind each of us were our parents. We had taken that picture about four years ago, back when Iggy's dad was still alive. That day we had gone to Disney Land and had the most amazing time.

My eyes drifted to something that was hanging around Fang's neck. It was a small silver dog tag, glowing brightly in the sunlight. I remembered that dog tag, it had belonged to his grandfather and for years he never took it off. Now it hung around a picture frame in his room with a picture of Fang and his grandfather in it.

I smiled fondly at the memory of Fang and his beloved dog tag. It was his dad's dad and Fang was really close to him. I remembered that it was his grandfather that had given him the nickname Fang; in fact he had given us all nicknames. They were supposed to be army nicknames, which made a soldier sounds cooler and stronger. For Fang and Iggy, the names stuck and most people stopped calling them by their real names. I didn't go by my nickname very often though; it didn't really stick. He had called me Blaze-due to my fiery temper.

Suddenly, this little trip down memory lane gave me the most amazing idea in the history of amazing ideas. I knew what I could get Iggy. I jumped up, stubbing my toe on my desk of course. I limped out of my room, cursing under my breath. "What are you doing in there?" Ella asked as she walked out of the bathroom. "Tap dancing with an elephant?" I walked passed her, smacking her in the head in the process.

I grinned evilly as I reached our kitchen. Digging through the enormous junk drawer I finally found what I was looking for- the phone book. Ten minutes, and three paper cuts, later I found what I was looking for. I wrote down the address on a piece of paper and shoved it in my pocket. "I'm going out shopping. I'll be back later," I called to Ella. I put on my shoes and jacket and walked out the door. From the corner of my eye I saw Fang in his driveway, working on his car. "Hey Fang, want to come to LA with me? I'm going to go get Iggy's present," I yelled to him. He looked up and me and shrugged. With a slam he shut his engine hood and jogged over to my car.

"What are you getting him?" he asked as he sat down. As we drove I told him the story of me falling on my face and getting hit with the picture frame and how I thought of the present idea. "So that's what all the yelling and banging I heard this morning. I thought someone had broken into your house or something. Then I remembered that it was early in the morning and you are particularly klutzy first thing in the morning." I reached over and smacked him roughly in the arm.

"You don't have much room to talk my friend. Aren't you the one who once walked into the same door twice in a row?" I asked. He stuck his tongue out at me but didn't argue back.

Almost a half hour later we finally made it to the shop I wanted to go to. We would have been there sooner, but I got lost along the way and Fang wouldn't let me stop and ask for directions. Guys are such meatheads sometimes. Well, I finally parked my car and walked towards the shop. In big letters across the door, I read the name Razmik's. A little bell jingled as I opened the door and I looked around. There were cases of necklaces and rings lining the walls and making little aisles in the middle of the shop. The place was well lit and it made the jewels in the store all sparkle. Behind the counter was a short, chubby man who smiled as I walked in.

"Well good morning. How can I help you?" he asked.

"Hi. I know this is really last minute and I know Christmas is coming up and everything but I have an order that needs to be ready as soon as possible," I explained. I need some engraving done on three necklaces. Can you do that?"

"Of course I can. What exactly would you like these necklaces to say?" the man asked. He pulled out a notepad and a pen and handed them to me. I bent over the counter and began scribbling down words on the page. I handed the notepad back to the man who viewed through a pair of think bifocals.

"Yes, this can be done very easily. What type of necklace would you like these done on?"

"Dog tags. Plain silver dog tags," I said. I glanced back at Fang, who was staring at me mouth agape. I guess I had forgotten to mention that he was part of this gift idea. "About how long will it take? I'm pressed for time because one of my friends is moving away soon and I want to give this to him before he leaves."

"It should take me about a week. Can you come back next Friday?"

"Of course. Do I pay now or when I pick them up?" I had my wallet in hand, ready to pay for what I hoped would be the most amazing present in the history of the world.

"I need a down payment of fifteen dollars," the man said. I pulled out two bills and handed them to him. "I'll have these ready by Friday. Thank you for coming in and have a good day." I nodded and with a little wave I opened the door back up and left the shop.

"Why three? I thought this was a present for Iggy," Fang interrogated as soon as the door slammed behind us.

"It's a gift for all of us really. You'll understand when I pick up the necklaces. You know what? I'm thirsty, let's stop for coffee," I said with a grin. Fang rolled his eyes as I turned right to head to a coffee shop. We finally found one that seemed decent. There was a short line so Fang and I stood there viewing the board until the counter was clear.

"What can I get for you two?" a peppy teenager with freckles dotting her face asked.

"I'll have the caramel ice mocha," I said as I glanced up at the board.

"Just a cup of coffee- black," Fang said after the girl wrote down my order.

"Wow, you're boyfriend is pretty tough to drink black coffee," the girl said in awe. Fang and I looked at each other and laughed.

"He's not my boyfriend," I said accenting the word not. The teen got this huge smile on her face and her eyes seemed to dance with excitement. When she turned around to get our drinks ready Fang looked at me and pretended to gag. I stifled a giggle as she turned back around. She handed me my drink and as she gave Fang his coffee, she gave him a small wink. It was disgusting.

As we drove back to Maywood I thought out in my head how Christmas was going to go and how I would say good-bye to Iggy. This was going to be the hardest thing I've ever done in my life- but I had to do it. I drove by the park and out of the corner of my eye I saw Ella and Nudge sitting at one of the benches with their heads together. I slowed down to a crawl and rolled down my window. "You took look awfully suspicious over there," I yelled. They both jumped in surprise and turned to face me.

"It's a free country- we can look as suspicious as we want to," Nudge called back. I glanced over to Fang and shook my head. They were hiding something.

"You two just keep doing what you're doing but don't think for a minute I'm not going to find out," I yelled. I sped up and left them sitting at the bench, looking very nervous.

"They looked very guilty of something," Fang observed as he turned around to take one last look at them.

"Without a doubt," I agreed. "But I'll deal with that later. Right now I'm focused on Christmas. I'm going to up late wrapping presents."

"You haven't done that yet?"

"Nope. I've been distracted recently. Since, you know my boyfriend went blind a few weeks ago and stuff. Plus I just found out he's moving away halfway through our senior year," I said shortly.

"Touché. I'm still trying to come to grips with the fact that everything's going to be so different. All the plans we made freshman year are pretty much gone. Remember?" I glanced over at Fang and nodded.

When we started high school the three of us wanted to go to the same college so we could always be together. I remembered all the late night three-way conversations we had over the phone talking about what we wanted to do with our lives. It had seemed so innocent back then. Now it was coming true. The thought of college coming up soon scared me, since now I didn't know if everything we had planned was going to happen or not.

Fang and I just sat there for a while, lost in our own thoughts. It then dawned on me that we were back at my house and that we had been sitting in my driveway like a couple of losers. "Well, I better get to wrapping those presents," I finally said. I shut my car off and opened the door. Fang did the same and slid over the hood of my car Dukes of Hazard style. "Watch the paint job!" I yelled as Fang sprinted off towards his house. He knew I hated it when he slid across my car hood. I caught a glimpse of Fang sticking his tongue out at me before I opened my front door.

The house was silent since my whole family was out doing their own thing. My parents were at work and Ella was off plotting with Nudge so I had total silence while I wrapped presents. With a click of the remote, the wonderful sounds of Eminem filled my room. Within minutes my room was a war zone of lose wrapping paper, tissue paper, tape and curling ribbon. I really hated wrapping presents but Christmas was the one time I would actually take the time to do it. Even on birthdays people were lucky to get something in a gift bag from me. In the past I've simply kept the present in the bag that it was in when I bought the gift.

Sometime during my gift wrapping session someone in my family came home because I heard my front door open and close again but I didn't pay any attention. A minute later there was a knock on my door, which slightly surprised me. Usually whoever comes home yells "I'm back!" and that's that.

"Hold on!" I called. I quickly shoved all the gifts and wrapping paper under my bed and turned down my music. The knocking became more frequent and more intense. "Give me a second!" I snapped as I leapt over my bed to get to my door. I turned the knob, expecting to see Ella there or something but boy was I wrong. "What are you doing here?" I asked in surprise. Iggy was standing there, arm raised to knock on my door again. Angel was standing behind him, looking a little scared about something.

I looked at Iggy with a puzzled look, not that it had any effect. "I'm glad you're home Max. I can't take it anymore!" Iggy snarled. Now I was really confused. How did Iggy get all the way over here and more importantly why?

"Um, Ig, how did you get in here?" I asked.

"I walked over with Angel. But that's not important right now. I came over here, and I don't want to go back home. It's been a nightmare at home. My mom and I are still fighting about that stupid school and it's all just so stressful." I sighed and took Iggy's hand in mine. I wanted to be there to help Iggy, but there was nothing I could really do.

I led Iggy over to my bed and we sat down. "Ange, you can go downstairs and watch TV if you want to," I said. She nodded and silently walked away from my bedroom door. "Ig, I know you don't want to go. I don't want you to go either but it won't be forever. I'll come visit you as often as I can," I said hopefully. He gave me a small smile but didn't say anything.

In the silence I heard the sound of SpongeBob Squarepants playing on our TV. That show was made of pure evil, Ella used to be obsessed with it when we were younger. "Max?" Iggy suddenly asked. "Would, would you think any less of me if I told you I was scared?" I almost started laughing at that.

"Absolutely not. If you weren't scared, I'd think something was wrong with you. But nothing that you do would make me think any less of you. Ig you have every right to be scared. Why on earth would you even think that?" Iggy shrugged.

"Angel? What are you doing here?" I heard someone ask from downstairs. It was Ella; I guess she was done hanging out with Nudge. "Is Iggy here too?" I guess Angel said yes because I heard footsteps bound up the stairs and Ella appeared in my doorway.

"Ells, we're having a conversation here. Get out," I barked. Part of me was still mad at her about telling everyone about what she thought was an argument between us. She shrugged and headed towards her room and shut the door with a slam. I turned my attention back to Iggy. "When are you leaving?" I asked solemnly.

"January second," he responded with such venom in his voice I thought he was about to start spitting acid. My heart stopped beating at that moment. January second was only nine days from now. I only had nine days left with Iggy. It was almost too much for me to handle. "Max? Are you ok? I can feel your hand shaking," Iggy said. With a few deep breaths I tried to calm myself down again.

"I'm ok. I just didn't know that we had such little time together," I replied shakily. Only nine more days before I was going to lose the one person that meant everything in the world to me. What was I going to do?

"Iggy, your mom just called. She says you and Angel need to come home now," Ella said as she appeared in my doorway. Iggy scoffed and fell backwards on my bed.

"I'm not going back there," Iggy said irritably.

"What about Angel?" I asked. Iggy rolled to face me, his sightless blue eyes filled with fear. "I can drive her home. You can stay here as long as you want to," I added. Iggy nodded a little and I got up from the bed.

As I walked down the stairs I could hear some Christmas movie playing on TV. "Look Max, Frosty the Snowman is on!" Angel squealed happily when she saw me.

"That's cool Ange. But we have to go now. I'm going to take you home." I held up her shoes that were sitting by the door and with a sigh Angel turned off the TV and came over to me.

"Is Iggy not coming?" she asked gently. I shook my head as she put her shoes on. "He and Mommy have been fighting all day. He came into my room all mad and asked me to walk with him here." We had reached my car and while I was driving Angel kept talking about the fight Iggy and Robin had been having. I pulled into Iggy's driveway and Angel got out of the backseat.

"Angel, tell your mom Iggy is going to have dinner with me and my family tonight. OK?" I yelled from the window. She nodded and opened the door to her house. During the drive back I thought about how I was going to spend my last few days with Iggy. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve and my family, Fang's family and Iggy's family always got together for a big dinner then we opened some presents. I hoped that everything would go smoothly.

When I got home Iggy was still lying on my bed. I think he was either asleep or thinking about something. I leaned over him and clapped my hands together really loudly. He snapped up like a spring and spun his head around. "Who the heck was that?" he asked furiously.

"Calm down Ig, it's me, Max." I touched his face gently and the rage in his eyes subsided. "I just got back. Were you sleeping?" I asked as I sat down next to him.

"Not really. I just didn't hear you come in. Your door is so freaking silent," he grumbled. "So, you ready for the Christmas party tomorrow?"

"Nope. I was in the middle of wrapping presents when you came over. I'm almost done though," I replied.

"Well don't let me stop you. It's not like I'll be able to tell what the presents are." I slid onto the floor and began pulling the presents back out from the vast depths of under my bed. A quick count of what I had already wrapped showed me that I only had to wrap Fang's guitar stand and Ella's converse. I figured the converse would be easier to wrap so I did those first.

As I was cutting wrapping paper, I gave myself a paper cut. As I felt the sharp paper edge slice my skin I let out a small yelp of surprise. I could never figure out how paper could hurt you, it was paper. "Stupid paper," I grumbled as I sucked my bleeding finger. Iggy let out a soft chuckle. "Oh shut up," I snapped at him. He didn't stop laughing so I picked up a wad of wrapping paper that I hadn't used and chucked it at his head.

"Hey watch it!" he said as he continued to laugh. "Don't get mad at me because you can't handle wrapping presents. You need to be careful, paper is dangerous. After all it can beat rock."

"I never did understand that. I mean I get that scissors can beat paper and how rock can be scissors. But how can paper beat rock? Does it simply wrap itself around a rock, preventing it from moving? Then why can't it do that to scissors? Screw scissors, why can't paper do this to people? Why aren't sheets of paper constantly suffocating students as they attempt to take notes in class? I know why, because paper can't beat anybody. You know what? From now on when I play rock, paper, scissors, I'll choose rock. Then when someone claims to have beaten me with paper I can punch them in the face with my already made fist and say, 'oh, I'm sorry, I thought paper would protect you," I ranted. Iggy sat on my bed, shaking his head.

"What is going on in that pretty little head of yours Max?" he asked. With a swift motion, I smacked him in the back of the head. He fell over onto my pillows, laughing like an idiot. I plopped down next to him and shut my eyes. A nap sounded really good right now so I tried to relax as much as I could. Just as I was falling asleep I heard Iggy's phone ringing.

"You've got to be kidding me," I grumbled. I shoved my head under my pillow and attempted to drown out the noise.

"Hello?" Iggy asked into the phone. "What do you want?" he followed up irritably. "I'll be home later." He paused for a moment before continuing, "Call a sitter or something. I don't really feel like being home. How can I babysit them anyways? I'm busy Mom. Call Nudge or something. She can watch them. Or Ella even. Fine. Yes, yes I'll come home. Geez calm down." Iggy snapped his phone shut so hard I thought he was going to crush it. I sat halfway up and looked at Iggy through blurry eyes.

"Do you have to go home?" I asked. Iggy gave me a slight nod and I got up from my bed. "I'll drive you home. Come on." I took a hold of Iggy's hand and led him out of my room and down the stairs. It didn't take him as long to get down the stairs as I thought it would. We got in my car and for the second time that day I started driving towards Iggy's house.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow," he said as I shut off my car. He felt around for the seatbelt clip and freed himself from the cloth restraint.

"It'll be fun. Hey, wait a minute," I called as Iggy tried to open my door. "What kind of good-bye is that?" I asked. Iggy grinned and I leaned towards him to give him a good-bye kiss. As I pulled away, Iggy had his irresistible grin plastered across his face. I watched as he got out of my car and slowly made his way towards his house. The front door opened and Gazzy ran out and took him by the arm and led him the rest of the way inside.

Once they were inside I started my car again and backed out of the driveway. There was another ten minutes of silence as I made my way back to my house. When I got home I quickly finished wrapping my last two presents and carried them all downstairs to join the others under the tree.

For dinner my mom decided to get take-out since she would be cooking all day tomorrow. Ella and I sat on the couch, ate Lo Mein and watched Christmas Vacation. We were at the part where the cat got fried under the chair when the door-bell rang. Ella and I were too lazy to get up so with a sigh, my mom got up to get it. "Max, it's Fang," she called. I looked over at Ella who had the remote. She paused the movie and I threw a blanket off of my lap.

Fang was standing in the doorway, looking a little upset about something. With a nod to my mom I stepped outside and shut the door behind me. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Lissa called me just a little bit ago," he said solemnly.

"Well this couldn't have ended well," I added sarcastically.

"It wasn't about the break-up. She called me because she didn't have anyone else to call. It's her sister Max. Her sister died today." I was floored. I remembered sweet little Brianna, who was looking forward to going home to play with her toys. Even though every fiber in my body despised Lissa, I felt horrible for her. If I lost Ella I don't know what I would do. "I came over here because I don't know where else to go. Max, will you come with me to the hospital? She needs someone. Most of her other friends are away on vacations, she's alone there with her parents. Please Max, I know you don't like her but-"

"I'll go," I interjected. Lissa was a horrible person, but she needed someone to show they cared right now. "Let me go tell my parents. Have the car started," I said as I pushed the door back open. "Mom, Dad! I have to go with Fang to the hospital!" I yelled into the house.

"What's wrong?" Ella asked worriedly.

"Long story I'll tell you later." With that I shut the door again and ran over to Fang's car and hopped into the passenger seat. Fang sped off down the road towards the hospital. We found Lissa sitting in the waiting room of the pediatrics wing. She was bawling her eyes and seeing her so upset made me forget how much I hated her.

She must have heard us come in because she looked up and stared at us in surprise. "What are you two doing here?" she asked through her sobs.

"We figured you needed a friend right about now," Fang said. He sat down next to Lissa and wrapped one of his arms around her. She continued to sob. Fang looked up at me with a look that said 'you better do something soon', so I sat down on the other side of her and held her hand. Time slowed down to a crawl while the three of us sat there. Little children in the waiting room stared at us and a few whispered things to their parents.

Some time later a woman came over to us and put a gentle hand of Lissa's shoulder. The woman had bright red hair tied back into a low ponytail and bright green eyes. It then hit me that this was Lissa's mom. They looked just like each other. "Thank you," she said to me and Fang. Lissa nodded at us and stood up. I followed them with my eyes as they walked down the hallway towards the room that Brianna had been staying in.

"We better go home. Long day tomorrow," Fang stated flatly. There was no denying the sadness in his eyes. Even though he and Lissa were over, I think part of him still cared for her. I found myself feeling bad for her as well. Even after all the trouble she had caused us over the year. No one deserved this, and the day before Christmas Eve of all days. A stray tear rolled down my cheek and I swiftly brushed it away.

The car ride home from the hospital was silent. I glanced over at Fang once and I noticed his hands were trembling on the steering wheel. "See you tomorrow," he said after he pulled into his driveway. Without waiting for me to say good-bye, Fang got out of the car and went into his house.

As soon as I opened my front door, I was attacked with a flurry of questions. My parents and Ella were standing right in front of me, terrified looks on their faces. "Max what happened? Who's in the hospital?" my mom asked rapidly. I held up my hands to silence my family.

"You all remember Lissa, Fang's ex-girlfriend?" I asked.

"ZOMG, is Lissa in the hospital?" Ella interrupted.

"No. Lissa's little sister, Brianna, was though. She had leukemia. She-she died today. Lissa called Fang because she didn't have anyone else to call about it. Fang asked me to come with him so he wouldn't be alone with Lissa," I explained.

"That poor child. How old was she Max?" my dad asked.

"I'm not sure exactly. Somewhere around Angel's age I think." My mom's eyes began filling with tears. Ella put her hand to her mouth in shock and my dad got very pale. "Yeah. That's all I know about it. Fang just needed some company, that's why he asked me to go. I think I'm going to go to bed now. I'll see you all in the morning. Night." I pushed past my silent family and trudged up the stairs.

Right before I got into bed I checked my phone one last time. There was a text from Fang on it. "Thanks," it read. That night I fell asleep thinking about sweet little Brianna and I dreamt of her and Angel, playing with a huge pile of stuffed animals, both of them looking so happy.

**Me: Well, another chapter done. Don't forget to click that little review button at the bottm of the screen! I don't care if you've never reviewed for one of my stories before- I'd appriciate more reviews. That way I know what I can do to make this story better. Thanks to all my regular reviewers. I'll be sure to give you all a shout out in the last chapter!**


	18. A Totally awsome Christmas

**Me: Happy early Christmas! Or Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, or whatever holiday you may celebrate!**

**Iggy: Water Wolf 100 does not mean to offend anyone by not mentioning your celebrated holiday. Also, she doens't own us (thankfully, or else I fear what horrible torture my family and I woujld be subjected to.)**

**Me: He doens't mean that. I wouldn't torture you or any of the Flock members. Mainly because 1 Max would kill me if I tried and 2 If I survived Max's fury then Fang would try to kill me and if I somehow survived that then I know that a mob of angry fan-girls would come and beat me up for making the Flock upset. So I would do no such thing. **

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Chapter 18: A Total(ly) awesome Christmas

"On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me—a partridge in a pear tree!" My eyes snapped open at the sound of the blaring lyrics. My eyes darted around my room, looking for the source of the horrible noise. My gaze finally settled on my open window. "On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me—two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree!"

With a huff I threw off my covers and went to my open window. Fang was sitting in his window sill, a large boom box resting on his lap with that retched song playing. There was an evil smirk on his face and I fought the urge to throw something at his head. "Well good morning Nicholas," I hissed putting stress on his full name. Fang winced at the sound of it. No one ever called him Nicholas, not even teachers at school. "And to what extreme honor to I owe that beautiful sound first thing in the morning?"

"You're mad aren't you?" he asked.

"Now why would I be mad at being woken up on Christmas Eve at seven thirty in the morning?" I asked glancing down at my clock.

"I need your help. Nudge and my parents went out shopping for stuff for the party tonight. They're making me clean the entire house; can you come over and help?" he asked.

"Couldn't you have come over to ask me that? Or maybe used this amazing invention called a cell phone?" I retorted.

"I could have, but this was so much more fun."

"You're an idiot, did you know that? But fine, I'll be over in a little bit." I slammed my window shut and began searching through my closet for something that at least looked clean. Eventually I found a pair of jeans and a plain green t-shirt. That was good enough for me.

I got dressed, brushed my teeth, blah, blah, blah and walked down the stairs. My mom was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking a cup of tea from a mug with a picture of Santa on it. She was decked out in Christmas clothes; I think even her socks were Christmas themed. She heard me come down the stairs and looked up in surprise. "Good morning Max. What are you doing up so early?" she asked.

"First thing, it's not the morning. To me it's still the middle of the night and second I'm up because of the idiot next door that for some reason I call my best friend. He woke me up by playing the twelve days of Christmas from a boom box. He wants me to come over and help him clean," I said tiredly. My mom nodded and went back to drinking her tea. We didn't have much food in our house and I decided that since Fang woke me up, he could repay me by letting me eat his food.

I let myself into Fang's house and I found him standing in his living room, a vacuum in front of him. He looked unsure of what to do with it. "Are you going to stand there checking out the vacuum all day? Or are we going to get to work?" I asked. He jumped several inches in the air and spun around to face me.

"How did you do that?" he asked. I grinned evilly.

"I will tell you when you are ready to master the next ninja technique young grasshopper," I said with an old Chinese woman voice. I bowed to him with my hands held together, Japanese ninja style. Fang rolled his eyes and threw an old rag at my face.

"Come on, let's get to work. And for the record, I wasn't checking out the vacuum. I was trying to figure out if it would be better to start upstairs or downstairs. Do you think I'm an idiot or something?" Fang asked. I opened my mouth to respond when he held up his finger. "Don't answer that," he warned. I shut my mouth and smirked. Fang carried the colossal vacuum up the stairs while I got to work cleaning the kitchen.

Before I got too far into my work I turned on the radio and began dancing around to Sleigh Ride while I cleaned. Mid-song I heard a crash from upstairs and I turned the music down. "You OK, Fang?" I yelled.

From upstairs I heard Fang yell, "I. Hate. Vacuums." I rolled my eyes and turned the music back up. Soon the kitchen was spotless and it would remain that way until the party started. We had a pretty cool system down for our yearly party. We would all get together at Fang's house, my house would be used for all the cooking and Robin would bring the desserts and a large selection of Christmas movies for us to all watch.

Eventually I finished cleaning the kitchen and I moved on to dusting everything in sight. Fang trudged down the steps, the vacuum pounding against every one of the stairs. I fought back a grin as I took a look at Fang. His already messy hair was now in complete disarray. A few circles of hair stood almost straight up and along the top a fine layer of dust stood out against the black. He glared menacingly at me and growled, "Not a word." Sadly, it was too much for me to hold back and I burst out into a fit of laughter.

"Lose a fight with the vacuum?" I asked between giggles. I stood in front of him and got up on my tip toes to look at the dust in his hair. Using the duster in my hand, I brushed the light colored particles out of Fang's beloved hair.

"The stupid hose. I was vacuuming along the baseboard and I stood up to stretch out my back and it got too close to my hair. And well, you can see what happened."

"And the dust?" I asked.

"I thought the bag was full so I tried to check it. And well, it didn't end well." He shoved my hand out of his way and finished shaking the rest of the dust out of his hair. He then took a hold of the vacuum and dragged it down the hallway to finish his work. I stood there for a minute, still laughing.

Sadly, the rest of the cleaning job went by without another incident. We finished around lunchtime and by then I was so hungry I was willing to eat anything. Fang found a frozen pizza in his freezer and put it in the oven. When it was done I practically devoured the entire thing. We finished eating just as Fang's family got home.

"Hi kids," Vicky said as she set down several bags of groceries. "You two did a great job in here. Now, if you need me, I'll be next door." As quickly as she came, she left. Nudge and Andrew put away the groceries Vicky didn't need and then sat down on the couch to watch some Christmas movie on ABC. Fang and I joined them for a while and when a commercial came on Nudge turned to Fang and scowled.

"What?" he asked.

"It's Christmas Eve and you're wearing black. What's the matter with you? Where's your Christmas spirit?" she yelled. I took a second to notice that, as usual, Fang was wearing all black. For him Christmas Eve was no different than any other day I suppose. Black skinny jeans, some sort of black t-shirt which sometimes had a band name on it and black socks. "You are the most un-festive person I have ever met. Come on, we're going to go get you into something nice to wear for the party tonight." Nudge jumped up, took Fang by the hand and started dragging him up the stairs. He looked back at me, a pleading look on his face.

I shrugged, smirked, and turned my attention back to the movie. Fang should have known better then to not be all festive on Christmas Eve. Last year Nudge threatened to put red and green streaks in his hair the following Christmas if he didn't wear something other than black.

I was sure Fang was death glaring me, but I didn't really care. "Well this was fun, but I better get home so I can get ready for the party. If I wait too long I won't get a chance to use the bathroom. "By Andrew I'll see you later. Bye Nudge bye Fang. Have fun!" With a small wave I walked out the door and crossed the yard to my own house.

From inside, the sound of Christmas music drowned out any other noise. My mom and Vicky were singing loudly, and badly, to Winter Wonderland. Ella was sitting on the couch, her IPod turned all the way up I think. I snuck up past all of them and locked myself in the bathroom. If I stayed downstairs too long, they would ask me to help. And of course, cooking and I don't get along very well. I turned on the shower and spent ten minutes in the shower singing Christmas music as well. I think it's contagious, once one person starts, no one can resist.

When I was done in the shower, I actually blow dried my hair and put in some no-frizz stuff Ella used. When I was done drying my hair I pulled back a top layer up and pinned it with a red and green clip. When I finished my hair I carefully pulled out Ella's make-up bag. Christmas was the one time I ever used it. Ella was very protective of her make-up and if I let anything happen to it she would kill me.

I didn't really go all out or anything but I added a smidge of blush to my cheeks, put on some shimmering green-ish eye shadow. Finally I carefully used the mascara wand to add the tiniest but to my upper lashes. I stepped away from the mirror and took a look at myself, I liked how I looked with make-up on but I never wanted to spend the time to put it on.

"Max! Are you done in there yet? I need to start getting ready!" Ella yelled as she pounded on the bathroom door.

"I'm coming. Geez, don't get your knickers in a twist," I called back as I put away my hairbrush and Ella's make-up bag. I unlocked the door and Ella stormed in.

"Knickers in a twist? When did we move to England?" she asked. I shrugged and started to walk out of the bathroom. "Max?" Ella called after me. I stopped to face her. "You look nice," she said with a soft smile. I grinned and headed back to my room. I started digging around in my closet for something nice to wear to the party. I had been so caught up with everything that had been happening; I forgot to get a new dress. Usually Ella and I would go and get something nice to wear every year but I hadn't had a chance to this year. I finally settled on a red silk button down top with a thick black belt around the waist. I also managed to find a plain black pencil skirt. Ella had leant me a pair of kitten heels to wear because I was forbidden from wearing converse to the party.

"Max, can I come in?" Ella asked from the other side of my door. In true Ella fashion, she simply opened the door without waiting for my response. "Beautiful, you look beautiful Max," she exclaimed. I smiled and looked at what Ella was wearing. Unlike me, she had gone shopping and bought a new dress. It was bright red and had a high waistband.

"Love the dress, Ella," I complimented. She beamed at me.

"Thanks Max. I was a little nervous at first because usually I don't like pleated dresses like this." I assumed she was referring to the folds of fabric that went down from the waistline to the bottom of the dress. On her feet were adorable little black sandals and a red and black necklace dangled from her neck. "Well, I better go finish my hair. I just wanted to see how you looked." With that she turned around and left my room.

A glance at my clock showed that it was going on three. We were going to go back over to Fang's at four thirty so I had some time to kill. For about twenty minutes I surfed the web, but that soon got boring. A book sitting on my end table then became very tempting. I had gotten it at a book sale over the summer but I hadn't found time to read it.

It was _Daniel X: Demons and Druids_ by James Patterson. I read the first two in the series last spring and I really enjoyed them so I figured this one would be just as good. James Patterson was one of my favorite authors. I plopped down on my bed and began reading. I was on chapter four when a knock on my door brought me out of my book. "Max, time to go!" my mom called. I put a bookmark at my page and set the book back down. I would have to finish it when I got home.

It took me, my mom and dad, Ella and Vicky to carry all the food over next door. Andrew stood there with the door open for us. I wasn't sure what I was carrying but it smelt of figs so I guessed it was figgy pudding. My mom made it every year but the only two people that could stand the stuff was my dad and Gazzy. The rest of us made sure to stay far away from it.

From the looks and smells of the kitchen my mom and Vicky had made roasted pork, green beans, mashed potatoes and of course the figgy pudding. I wasn't sure what Robin was bringing but I knew it would be delicious. "Where's Fang?" I asked Andrew once I set down the large, and heavy, bowl. He jerked his thumb up the stairs and grinned.

"Nudge has been keeping him up there ever since you left. A couple times I heard the sound of struggling and yelling so I'm sure Nick isn't being very cooperative. It should be an interesting evening." I laughed then went to join Ella in the living room. She and my mom were admiring the Christmas tree. It was artificial because Nudge was allergic to them, but it still looked beautiful. Gold lights twinkled and sparkled off of the decorations and contrasted well with the silver tinsel. On top, a delicate glass angel sat, its smiling face spreading Christmas joy over the room.

"Excuse me. May I present, one festive Fang," Nudge announced from the bottom of the stairs. "Fang, get down here," she demanded. I found myself unable to contain my excitement; this was going to be good. Quickly, I pulled out my phone, ready to take a picture of this. Nudge stepped out of the way and Fang came into view. I nearly fell over in shock. There was no speck of black anywhere on him.

For starters, he was wearing brown dress pants. I didn't even know he owned a pair of dress pants, let alone brown ones. His top was even more outrageous than his pants. The whole thing was red and there were three different patterns on it. The top row was a sort of diamond thing, which I just noticed did have a little black in it, so the whole thing wasn't totally lacking black. The second row had snowflakes across it and the rest of it had neat rows of polka-dots. I'm not going to life; it was the ugliest thing I had ever seen in my life. I have no idea what Nudge was thinking when she put him in this.

She had someone managed to comb his hair down neatly and it looked shiner than usual. It dawned on me that it was hair gel. Nudge had put hair gel in his hair. On his feet were a pair of red and green reindeer socks and pinned to the front of his shirt was a small pin with Santa's head on it. Fang looked like he was going to die. He leaned near Nudge, whispered something in her ear and she grew very pale.

"That's an interesting look you're sporting Fang," Ella said between giggles. She winked at Nudge who also giggled. "Very festive."

"Does this have anything to do with what you two were talking about yesterday in the park?" I accused. Ella looked from right to left in a very shifty way. She was guilty; I knew it without a doubt.

"Maybe," she said, drawing out the word. I took another look at Fang, then back at Ella and back at Fang again. It was too much for me to stand, I started laughing.

"Shut up," Fang hissed. He was furious, that much was obvious. I reached up and touched the top of his head. My hand came back sticky feeling from all the gel. Fang never gelled his hair, ever. "Thanks for helping me out earlier by the way. Really appreciate it." I shrugged again and Fang scowled at me.

"Griffiths are here," my dad announced. Vicky opened the door for them and Robin came in carrying a large tray of what smelled like chocolate chip cookies. Gazzy came in next, carrying a similar tray. Lastly, Angel came in holding Iggy's hand.

"These smell delicious Robin, thank you," Vicky said as she took the tray from her. Angel led Iggy over to the couch and they both sat down.

"Max, I got a new dress. Do you like it?" Angel asked sweetly. She stood up and did a cute little turn so I could see the whole dress. It was red on top and it had a poufy white skirt that had small flowers on it. It actually was really cute. Both Iggy and Gazzy were wearing black dress pants. Gazzy had on a green button dress shirt and Iggy wore a red and black striped one. For one, his outfit looked normal. Angel sat back down and fiddled with the skirt of her dress. All our parents went into the kitchen to talk about whatever it was they talked about. The rest of us hung out in the living room until dinner.

"Fang, what are you wearing?" Gazzy asked when he noticed Fang's outfit. That earned another scowl from Fang and he sat down on the opposite side of the room.

"What's he wearing?" Iggy asked me. I described the outfit in great detail to Iggy and when I was done he burst out into a fit of laughter. "I can actually see that in my head. Get dressed in the dark buddy?"

"No. I just happen to have a demonic little sister who thinks that a joke like this is funny," he snapped. Nudge shrugged and went back to talking to Ella about some pair of shoes at some store in some city somewhere. I wasn't paying attention to their conversation at all.

Iggy and I got into some conversation about teachers at our school that we thought should be fired. It was weird since we were on winter break and Iggy was switching schools anyway. Gazzy and Angel played some make-believe game and Fang sat in the corner sulking. Vicky called us for dinner and we made our way into the dining room.

I sat between Iggy and Fang and across from Ella. Andrew thanked us all for coming and then we all dug in. Robin, who was on Iggy's other side helped him get some of his food and told him where everything was placed. I was surprised to see that he didn't fight with her about it. Something told me that it was because everyone else was there and he didn't want to make a scene about it.

As I thought, the food was delicious. This evening was going much smoother then it had last year. We were in the middle of dinner when Angel thought it would be funny to throw a spoonful of mashed potatoes at Gazzy. In turn, he threw some back at her but it ended up hitting Nudge and well from there everything went downhill. Our parents made us clean everything up, which wasn't fun. Trying to scrub mashed potatoes and gravy out of a carpet is not the most enjoyable activity in the world.

This year, no food was thrown. Though, Gazzy spilt his glass of Sunkist all over the table and we had to rush to clean it up. For us, that counts as an uneventful evening. After all the food was either eaten or wrapped back up, the cookies came out. I snatched up five before the chocolate chips were gone. They were my absolute favorite and I don't even know why. When we were done eating dessert the twelve of us moved into the living room to open presents.

We didn't bring presents for our own families but we all gave presents to each other's families. Angel naturally got a ton of stuffed animals, mostly of the pink variety. Gazzy got a bunch of action figures and of course the war history book I got him. He was happier with that than I thought he would be. Nudge squealed in joy when she saw all the make-up and store gift cards she got. Ella got mostly the same things, and she gave mostly the same reaction.

Fang got not only the guitar stand I have him, but a new guitar case and a bunch of new CDs and ITunes gift cards. He seemed to be pretty pleased with his gifts. I was really happy with my presents as well Robin, Angel and Gazzy got me a combined gift which was this really neat lamp that I could take to my college dorm next fall. From Andrew and Vicky I got a couple gift cards to stores in the mall to my favorite stores. Nudge got me the most amazing Converse. I was amazed on how much I liked them. They had red and black barbed wire on them, the inside was deep red and the rubber sidewall was black. They were beautiful. This new pair brought the number of converse I owned to five. I now had five pairs of beautiful Converse, each unique in their own way.

Fang surprised me by getting something that I had wanted for a while—a new lap top bag. It was all black with an intricate patter of white flowers on it. They weren't girly flowers; it was a more abstract design. My old lap top bag was really worn out and I had been looking around for one for a long time.

The only person left to give me a present was Iggy. He shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out a rectangular box wrapped in pale red paper. I caught a glimpse at Angel's eyes right before he handed it towards me; her eyes were sparkling with excitement. Robin, who was sitting next to her, had tears in her eyes for some reason. Carefully I untied the ribbon around the box and lifted up the lid.

A gasp escaped my lips as I looked at what was sitting inside. Lying there was a delicate, silver, chain link bracelet. At the two ends and in the middle there were three different heart charms. I had never seen anything so beautiful in my life. "Iggy," I said breathlessly. He gave me the most brilliant smile I had ever seen.

"Let me see!" Ella called. She climbed over Fang and looked at the box in my hands. "It's beautiful." I lifted the bracelet out of the box and showed it around the room.

"Max, that's a very special piece of jewelry," Robin said. "Robert gave that to me when we were your age." I looked between Robin and Iggy, stunned.

"My mom gave it to me right after the accident. She told me to give it to the girl I cared the most about," Iggy added. I set the bracelet back down in the box and wrapped my arms around Iggy. It was the most wonderful Christmas present anyone could have given me.

"I'll cherish it forever," I whispered into his ear. While Iggy opened his presents, I sat there in a daze. I heard someone say my name over and over and I was brought out of my trace.

"Max it's your turn to give Iggy his present," my mom repeated.

"Sorry Ig, it's not ready yet. Fang can vouch for me; he was there when I ordered it. I'll give it to you really soon though. I'm sorry," I apologized. Fang nodded in agreement at my mention of him being there. Iggy looked in my direction and nodded.

Now that all the gifts had been exchanged, it was time for the party games. "Can we play the MTA game" Gazzy pleaded. The MTA game was something Ella and I found online two years ago. It was sort of like musical chairs but it used newspapers. Everyone was given a messed up newspaper and the person who was the called yelled out a common stop on the MTA line. Everyone then had to try and re-assemble their paper as fast as they could. Minus the occasional paper cut, the game was actually pretty fun.

We all looked at each other, deciding if that would be a good idea. Angel was still pretty young and she might not be able to play very well. "I'll call," Iggy offered. It was the only part he could play since he wouldn't have been able to see the numbers.

"I can be on a team with some one!" Angel added. "Max, do you want to be on a team with me?" She looked up at me with her big blue eyes and I melted.

"Sure Ange," I agreed with a shrug. Andrew went to the recycling bin to find some old newspapers for all of us while Fang and I set up chair to look like we were on a bus. Iggy sat in a lone chair at the front like he was the bus driver.

Angel sat on my lap and we waited for Iggy to give a street name. "Olvera Street!" Iggy suddenly called out. The room was instantly filled with the sound of rustling papers as we all rushed to put them back in order. I helped out Angel as she tried to match the numbers of all the sections.

"Done!" Nudge yelled out. She stood up, her neatly folded newspaper high above her head. She got out of her seat and took a spot on the couch to watch the rest of us play. After seven more rounds only Fang and Ella remained. Robin had gotten second, my mom third, Angel and I fourth, Andrew fifth, followed by Vicky. My dad and Gazzy tied for seventh and the only two left were Ella and Fang.

The room was silent as we stared at the two of them. "Sunset Boulevard," Iggy called out. Fang and Ella both began working furiously on their papers. Everyone in the room watched, curious to see who would win. Suddenly, Ella stood up with her completed paper in hand. Fang sighed and slumped back in his chair. He never won at that game. We played a few more games until Angel and Gazzy nearly fell asleep sitting up in their chairs.

"I think it's time for us to go home now," Robin said. Angel sat up a little more and rubbed her eyes.

"Mommy, can I stay up and wait for Santa?" she asked.

"Sweetie, Santa will only come if you're asleep. So we need to go home and get you kids in bed so he can bring all sorts of presents." Robin lifted Gazzy to his feet and he stumbled towards the door. He somehow managed to get his shoes on and he waited by the door for his mom. Robin followed him outside, guiding him down the path to their car. Angel sleepily trudged to the doorway and Iggy almost tripped over her.

"Sorry Ange," he apologized. She took his hand they walked out of the house. After they left my dad and Ella went back to our house while my mom and I stayed behind to help clean up. While we were doing the dishes Nudge excused herself upstairs to go to bed.

Fang followed her with his eyes and as soon as she was gone he ripped the sweater off and threw it to the floor. "Fang, that's not appropriate," Vicky scolded referring to Fang's to the fact Fang was now not wearing a shirt.

"Sorry Vicky. I just couldn't take one more minute in that wool nightmare," Fang apologized. I looked at my mom and we both chuckled. There was a laundry off from the kitchen and Fang disappeared for a moment then came back wearing one of his usual black t-shirts. "Much better. I love Nudge but one of these days she's going to pay for this horrible night from h—," Fang stopped midsentence and Vicky and my mom glared at him. "Heck, night from heck. Both women gave Fang a pleased smile and returned to drying dishes.

Once we were done cleaning up my mom and I said good-bye to Fang and Vicky and we headed for home. The house was quiet when we walked in so I figured my dad and Ella were already asleep. I said good-night to my mom and headed upstairs to go to bed.

I woke up to someone shaking me gently and saying, "Max, Max time to wake up." I shoved the hand away and rolled away from the annoying voice. "Max, Mom's making French toast." That got my attention. I shot up, smacking awakener in the face as I did so.

"Sorry!" I called as I realized what I did. Ella stood there, holding her nose as she glared at me.

"Geezum Max. Be more careful. You could have broken my nose," she cried. I patted her on the head as I got out of bed and found some Christmas-y clothes. Ella and I both ran downstairs when I was ready and raced to see who could sit at the table first. We were both bouncing in our seats with excitement. I felt like a little kid but in my opinion Christmas was the one time when anyone was allowed to act like a child.

Breakfast was delicious, French toast often was. Once we were all done the four of us sat around the tree and began to open presents. My parents got each other normal parent stuff—clothes, stuff they could sue for work, and more boring things like that. Ella ended up getting mostly new clothes and shoes and accessories. She also got a couple new books and a DVD copy of New Moon. She squealed so shrilly I think I heard the dog across the street from us howl. Ella loved her converse and my parents both really liked the gifts I picked out for them.

My parents surprised me by getting me a new laptop. I hadn't been expecting that at all; I was really happy. Ella had picked out some new IPod speakers that were bright, electric blue. They were pretty cool if I say so myself. I got a few other things, books, a movie or two, nothing out of the ordinary.

We were all sitting around out living room drinking hot chocolate and looking over our presents when a muffled shriek came from somewhere outside. "Looks like Nudge got her present," my mom said casually. I looked up from my laptop and stared at my mom. "Andrew and Vicky are taking Nudge to New York City for a week so she can see real designers at work." I've known nudge since she was born, and I knew for a fact that going to New York was her biggest dream. I went back to fiddling with my laptop and I thought about what a great Christmas this has been. I also wondered how Iggy and Fang had enjoyed theirs.

* * *

Iggy POV

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! It's Christmas!" Angel screamed as she ran down the hall. I groaned and shoved my head under my pillow. Angel meant the world to me, but there were times I wished she had an off switch. Or at least a snooze button. "Iggy, get up! Come on, let's go open presents," she yelled. Angel began shaking me roughly, calling my name. Eventually I got tired of it so I rolled over, wrapped my arms around her tiny waist and pulled her into a huge bear hug. I only knew where she was because I could feel her breathing on my face as she yelled my name.

"I'm awake. Are you happy?" I asked as I let her go. She giggled and I could picture her face in my head. Her eyes were sparkling with that pure joy that only little kids can feel. Her golden ringlet curls moving in all directions as she bounced with excitement. Her mouth was probably frozen into a smile as she waited for me to get out of bed and go downstairs with her.

"Come on Iggy. Mommy has breakfast all ready, then we can see what Santa brought us!" she cheered. I threw off the covers and slowly got out of bed. Getting ready in the morning had become particularly difficult since I couldn't see anymore. Angel usually helped me find clothes to wear and helped me make sure I didn't trip over anything.

She handed me a shirt that she found somewhere in my closet and I quickly slipped it on. I was too lazy to put on actual jeans so I decided to stay in the sweatpants I had on. I quickly ran my fingers through my hair, which is all I ever did to it anyways. Angel took my hand and pulled me down the stairs. "Morning Mommy, hi Gazzy! Merry Christmas!" Angel cheered as we entered the kitchen.

Breakfast went fast, it usually did. Gazzy and Angel inhaled their food like a vacuum cleaner. I was almost glad I couldn't see it because from what I heard it sounded like no self-control was used while they ate. Most of Angel and Gazzy's presents came from Santa of course. They were mostly toys and stuffed animals and movies. My mom and I waited until they were done before we started opening out own presents. I got my mom some new cooking supplies that she had been wanting and some scrapbooking stuff.

I opened each gift Angel handed to me. She and Gazzy had made me some little trinket that felt like it was made of Popsicle sticks. "It's a Popsicle stick house. That way, when you go away other people can see what our house looks like. Then you won't have to describe it to anyone," Gazzy explained. I smiled and opened my arms up so they could both hug me. Both of them were too young to understand that the school was for all blind people, and that none of them would be able to see it. I appreciated the gesture though.

"Ok, everyone get their shoes on. It's time to give James his last present," my mom said. I cocked my head to the side in confusion. What could I be getting that involved us going somewhere? I slipped on a pair on tennis shoes and let Angel lead me out to our car. We drove for about a half hour before I felt the car come to a final stop. "We're here," my mom cheered. As they led me down some path I listened to the sounds around me. I heard some dogs barking and a lot of birds but otherwise it was quiet.

"You must be the Griffiths," a man said. "You're right on time. I'm Paul Baker; I spoke to you over the phone Ms. Griffith. And this must be James, pleasure to meet you son," the guy said. I held out my hand and I felt someone take it and give it a firm shake. "So, do you have any breeds in mind James?"

"First off, please call me Iggy. Second, what are you talking about?" I asked, puzzled.

"James, we're getting you something that will help you get around easier. Care to take a guess?" my mom asked.

"A seeing eye dog," I stated as I figured it out. The dogs I had heard before, they were Seeing Eye dogs and one of them was going to be mine. I chuckled to myself at the bittersweet thought. I had always wanted a dog; though I never thought I would get one to help me move around easier.

We started walking through what I figured was the place where they kept the dogs because I could hear a lot of them barking. Paul walked along talking about the program and how much work it took to train the dogs. "Now comes the fun part. I'll hand you a leash and you get to walk around with the dog for a bit to see how you like working with him or her," Paul explained. "So I'm assuming you have no particular breed in mind then," he added afterwards. I shrugged. Angel tugged on my arm to get my attention.

"What about that one?" she asked. I figured she was pointing to one of the dogs in the room.

"Ah, that's an interesting choice you have little one. That dog there is very unique but he's one of our best guiders and fastest learners," Paul explained. "The staff swears he's part human because they claim he likes to listen to music. He even howls along and whines when certain songs come on."

"A dog with a good taste in music? Sounds like my kind of partner," I said. "Can I try him out?" I heard Paul walk away, his shoes squeaking on the linoleum. He came back and put a leash in my hands. "What's his name?" I asked.

"Total. Don't ask me why, I didn't name him," Paul said.

"Come on Total, let's go," I said. He sprang to life and led me around the room. Paul explained that he was guiding me through a bunch of different obstacles, things that I would have tripped over if I didn't have him. I called for Total to take me back to my family and when we stopped I felt Angel take me hand.

"What do you think of him?" Paul asked.

"I like him. Good call Ange." I ruffled her hair.

"Looks like Total like you too. If he's your choice then we can go fill out the paper work." I heard my mom and Paul walk away. I reached down and pet Total on his head, his fur was extremely soft.

"Angel, what kind of dog is he?" I asked.

"He looks like the Dog in Air Bud, but less furry. And he's black not gold," she explained, unsure of the exact breed. I guessed he was a black lab. My mom and Paul came back, talking about some sort of training.

"Well, after you complete a couple training courses with Total, you'll be able to take him home with you. Thank you all for coming and I'll see you on Wednesday," Paul said. I held out Total's leash and Paul took it. Angel led me outside and I got back into the car. Soon, I would be able to go places without someone holding my hand; for the first time since I lost my sight I was looking forward to getting some of my old life back.

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**So I have a favor to ask all of you dedicated (and new) readers. Tell me 1 your favorite pairing in Maximum Ride and 2 your favorite chapter from this story and why you like that chapter. I ask the first one simply because I want to see how many different pairings people come up with and the 2nd one because I just like to know what types of things I should continue to write about and what style I should use for future stories- ex more humor, more drama, more romance, etc, etc. Thanks and I look forward to lots of reviews! **


	19. The Final Goodbye

**Me: This has been the second saddest chapter I have yet to write for this story. I was practically dying inside as I wrote it so I hope that the emotion comes out well while you read it.**

**Iggy: Normally, this would be where I say something funny and/or sarcastic but Water Wolf looks pretty upset about this chapter so I'll keep my comments to myself this time. As you know, Water Wolf doesn't onw any of us. So yeah...here's the chapter...**

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Chapter 19: The Final good-bye

The days after Christmas had to be some of the most painful days of my life. I spent as much time with Iggy as I could—but it didn't feel like it was enough. He told me about Total and I was so happy to hear that he was going to be able to move around normally again. On Friday I drove back to LA with Ella to get Iggy's present. We walked into the store and the same man was standing behind the counter, polishing a brilliant blue gem. "Hi, I came here last week to order some dog tags and I'm here to pick them up," I said when I reached the counter.

"Ah yes, your last name is, umm, Batchelder. Correct?" he asked. I nodded and he ran into the room behind the counted and came back with a small box in his hands. "I think you will be pleased with them." I opened the box and lifted each of the tags up. On each one there was an engraving of one of our nicknames. The first one I found said Fang, then I saw mine and finally I saw Iggy's. On the backside it said the words 'I'd go to earth's end and back with you two'. The only thing was that instead of being written in regular words, it was written in a series of raised dots. I choose to have it written in Braille—so that someday Iggy would be able to read it as well.

"They're perfect, thank you so much," I said. I paid the rest of the money then Ella and I headed for home. When we got back I quickly wrapped both Fang's and Iggy's dog tags and set them on the kitchen counter. "Ella, where's my cell phone?" I asked as I looked around for it.

"Dunno," she responded, not even looking up from the TV show she was watching. I rolled my eyes and chucked a pen at her head. I finally found it under a pile of magazines that my mom was planning on taking to the recycling center.

Long ago I had memorized both Iggy and Fang's cell phone numbers. I decided to call Iggy first and almost robotically dialed the number. "Hello?" Iggy said after the fourth ring.

"Hey Iggy, its Max. I finally got your Christmas present in. Can you come over soon and get it?" I asked.

"I don't think I can come today—after I'm done working with Total Gazzy and Angel want to go to the park with me one last time," he said apologetically. I had to think about what he meant for a second then it hit me- Iggy was leaving the day after tomorrow. "Max, Max are you there?" I gripped the phone so tightly I thought it was going to snap in half.

"Yeah I'm here. Sorry. OK, umm, well just come over whenever you get the chance," I said. I think I heard Iggy say all right but I wasn't really listening. The realization that the boy I loved was going to be leaving me in just two days was finally sinking in. I set my phone back down on the counter and sulked back towards the living room. Swiftly, I fell face first on the couch, accidently smacking my head against the arm rest. Just my luck.

I flipped over and stared at the ceiling fan as it spun around and around. "All right I'm going to get to the bottom of this problem now before it gets out of hand," Ella said with a sigh. "What's wrong?"

"What do you think? Iggy's leaving on Tuesday—we're going to be six hours apart. We've never been that far apart in our lives. Do you have any idea how depressing this is?" I snapped back. Ella got off the couch and sat on the floor by my feet.

Then, to my extreme horror, I felt tears begin to well up in my eyes. I couldn't let Ella see my cry—I hated people seeing me cry. The only two acceptations had been when JJ died and when Iggy had his accident. I pulled a pillow over my face and loudly sighed, to try and convince Ella that I was just depressed, not weepy. "I'll be in my room," I said quickly. I didn't want to be around other people now; I needed some time alone to figure out what I was going to do. I tossed the pillow at Ella and ran upstairs before she could see the tears falling freely from my eyes.

I slammed my door shut and fell into my bed, sobbing. Memories from when my life was in order flooded through my head. Memories from before this nightmare began. I thought back to the last moment everything was good. I think it was sometime during the summer—even thought things weren't perfect between me and Fang everything else was still good. Since I was only human, I did what all people do in these situations. I thought of something to blame. Deep down I knew whatever I blamed wasn't truly at fault; it helped me feel a little better. I guess it all started with the day I went to the concert. That was the day everything fell apart. If I hadn't gone to that concert, JJ would still be alive.

If JJ was still alive would things be any different? Would Iggy be blind? I didn't really have an answer to that so I guess that I was wrong. "Max, it's almost dinnertime," Ella called from the other side of my door.

"Fascinating. Enjoy, I'm not hungry," I grumbled. Ella didn't say anything else after that. I think I fell asleep some time after that because the next time I opened my eyes the sun was just rising in the sky. I looked down at my phone and saw that it was January second. It was the first day of 2011. The day before Iggy left. Groggily I got up from my bed and went into the bathroom. My hair was sticking up in a bunch of weird angles from sleeping last night and I didn't feel like taking a shower so I just pulled it back into a ponytail. I really needed to get a haircut soon.

No one else was downstairs when I reached the kitchen. I glanced at the clock and saw that it was only seven thirty. Both of my parents were still on their Christmas breaks and Ella wouldn't get up until after nine so for a while I had time to myself. As silently as I could I opened the deck door and sat out to watch the sum get higher in the sky. It truly was breathtaking.

My mind couldn't even remember the last time a sunrise had looked this brilliant. The sun shot streaks of gold across the purple, blue and pink striped sky. A few small, puffy white clouds were forming, looking like polka dots on the horizon. I don't think I would trade living in California for anything in the world—nowhere else could you sit outside on the first day in January without a coat and watch a sunrise like this.

Eventually I realized I was hungry and I went back inside to find some food. There wasn't much but I managed to find a few mostly empty boxes of various cereals to make one bowl. Using the last of the milk I sat down and ate my multi-typed cereal. "Is your internal clock broken?" someone asked. I spun around to find Fang standing on my deck. I swallowed the last bit of cereal in my mouth and got up to let him in.

"What are you doing over here?" I asked. Fang shrugged, a sign that he didn't want to really talk about it. "Well, today's the last day," I said. Fang nodded slowly then noticed my bowl of cereal.

"Really? Trix and Apple Jacks in the same bowl?" Fang asked raising an eyebrow. I rolled my eyes and continued to finish my hodgepodge bowl of cereal.

"It's all we had," I said between bites. "I've been thinking. We need to do something special since you know, Iggy's leaving tomorrow. Any ideas?"

"Been thinking the same thing but I've got nothing. Normally I'd say the beach but I doubt Iggy wants to go there since it was at the beach where this whole mess began." I nodded slowly, my mind racing through all the things that we could do together that would make Iggy's last day here special. Absolutely nothing was coming to my mind; this was so unfair.

"You know, we really should have planned this in advance," I muttered. I jumped up and sat on the kitchen counter. Fang sat in one of the kitchen chairs and we just sat there and thought.

"What on earth are you two doing?" I glanced up and saw Ella standing there. She gave us a puzzled look, shook her head and proceeded to dig through our fridge for any remnants of food. She gave up with a sigh and sat across from Fang.

"We're trying to think of something to do that will make Iggy's last day here special. But we can't think of anything," I explained.

"Oh. Well why don't you just do whatever he wants to do? It's his last day after all," Ella suggested. I jumped off the counter and hugged her.

"Thanks Ells, that's brilliant!" I said. Ella pushed me off, muttered something under her breath about hating my daily mood swings and walked back upstairs.

Fang and I hung around in my living room watching TV until about ten when we decided that it was late enough in the morning to call Iggy. "Come on Iggy, pick up," I mumbled into the phone as it rang for the fourth time.

"Yo?"

"Hey Ig, its Max. You free to hang with me and Fang today?" I asked excitedly.

"Hmm, I'll have to work around a few appointments but I think I can squeeze some time in for my two favorite people." I groaned inwardly; if Iggy had been with me when he said that I would have smacked him. "Come over in a half hour?"

"We'll be there," I responded. I hung up the phone and turned my attention back to the TV. Sometime during a commercial I happened to glance down and I realized that I was still in my pajamas. "You know, going out to do something with Iggy would be much more fun if I was in real clothes," I said. Fang smirked and returned to watching the TV. I hit him in the back of the head as punishment for not telling me then I ran upstairs to get ready. Including walking upstairs and back down it took me a grand five minutes to get ready.

We finished the TV show we were watching then Fang and I got into my car and headed to Iggy's. He was outside, sitting on his doorstep when we pulled into the driveway. I honked the horn and he perked up. I got out and gave him a long hug. "Today's the last day," I whispered.

"Then let's make it an amazing one," he said back softly. I took his hand a led him back to my car. Fang had actually gotten out of shotgun and was sitting in the backseat. I mouthed a thank you to him and helped Iggy into the front seat.

"So what do you want to do today man?" Fang asked. Iggy stayed silent for a moment, clearly deep in thought. Then, his eyes widened and a grin spread across his face.

"Call the others. If today is going to be our last one together then we should all be involved," he said. Fang and I looked at each other and grinned. At the same time we pulled out our cell phones, I called Dylan and Fang called Sam.

A half hour later we were all together at none other than Griffith Park. For all of us this park was a special place. It was here where I first met Iggy, Sam and JJ. Our parents had brought us all here and by coincidence we all met and had become friends. Later on Iggy and I met Fang here as well—it was a very interesting day. Vicky, who was pregnant with Nudge at the time, brought Fang here to play. My mom had brought Iggy and me here to play after we were done with pre-school one day and at first we didn't get along at all. As in, we hated each other. Fang had picked on Iggy, I don't even remember what he had said but I got mad so I pushed him down and kicked him in the stomach. Even at three years old I knew how to fight dirty. After that we all got along, some part of Fang respected me for kicking his butt that day and in the end he and Iggy learned to get along.

I suppose the only one out of all of us who had no connection to this place was Dylan. While Fang, Iggy, Sam and I all stood there thinking of days past; Dylan just kinda stared off into space. "Those were some good times weren't they?" I asked.

"Oh yeah. I told you guys this park was awesome—I mean it has the name Griffith, how could it not be awesome?" Iggy asked.

"They need to change the name to Humble Park, it would match your personality so much better," Fang said sarcastically. Iggy responded by sticking his tongue out at him. "You know Max, I never told you but I think you almost cracked one of my ribs that day." That sent us all into a chorus of laughter, except for Dylan who just stared at us like we were idiots.

We hung around at the park for a while; it was New Year's Day so there weren't a lot of people around. Eventually we all got back into my car—it was a tight fit with Fang, Sam and Dylan all squeezed into the backseat. "Where to next?" I asked. Iggy leaned over and whispered where he wanted to go in my ear. I grinned widely, it was the perfect place. We started heading back to Maywood, but right before we got within the city limits I started heading east.

"Where are we going Max? Home is in the other direction," Dylan said, confused.

"I know. Iggy said he wanted to spend his last day here with all of his friends," I replied putting stress on the work all. Just like that, it was like a switch went off in Sam and Fang's heads.

"Good call Iggy, good call," Sam praised. Iggy turned around and smiled. Dylan on the other hand, still looked confused. I found the turn-off I was looking for and I happened to glance back at Dylan as we passed by the sign. There was some sort of pleasure in watching his eyes grow about twice the size of dinner plates. As I parked my car, a feeling of drop dead terror filled me. This was the first time I had come here since September and back then I hadn't been in a normal state of mind.

The five of us walked around until we found the exact spot that we needed to be in. I gripped Iggy's hand even tighter as we all stood there, unsure of what to say. I decided that I would be the one to say something first. "Hi JJ," I whispered. JJ's grave was actually quite beautiful; it was made of polished brown marble that was rounded on the top. When JJ had been buried I had been too upset to read what the tombstone said. I forced myself to look at it this time. Carved into the marble it read—

_Jennifer Joy Hughes_

_February 15, 1993- September 3, 2010_

_A loving daughter, sister and friend_

_She was a joy to have in our lives_

I read the words over and over in my head. Seeing her grave gave me a feeling of closure that I didn't seem to get at the funeral. Back then my life was so messed up it was like I had been dead inside.

Even though I said my good-byes on the day of the visitation, being here was a totally different feeling. It was like, as long as we were all here, JJ was still with us.

I looked over at Sam who was on the verge of tears. It took a lot to get Sam to cry, he always claimed showing emotions like sadness were for the weak-minded. Only I knew the truth though.

We all stood there, staring at JJ's grave for almost an hour. I surprised myself by not bursting into tears. I guess I had cried so much in the past few days I was completely out of any form of tears. "Guys, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we have to get going. I have work in twenty minutes and I can't be late," Dylan suddenly spoke up. We all nodded and walked away from JJ's grave.

The ride back to Huntington Park was short so we all sat in silence. I think all of us were a bit overwhelmed from being at JJ's grave. I parked my car at the strip mall where Dylan and Sam left their cars and we all got out.

Both Sam and Dylan gave Iggy one of those guy hug things where they only hug with one arm. Both of them said something softly to him before waving good-bye to Fang and me as they walked to their cars. I looked over at Iggy and I could have sworn I saw a shimmer of tears in his eyes. "Well guys should we head back?" I asked. Iggy nodded slowly and Fang responded by getting back into the car. As we got back to my house I saw Ella sitting in the front yard reading a book.

"Hi guys!" she called when I pulled into the driveway. She got out of the car and ran to give Iggy a hug as he stood up. "I wasn't sure if I would get to see you before you left so here's a good-bye hug."

"Thanks Ells. I'm going to miss you," Iggy said back.

"I'll miss you too. If Max ever gets to come up and see you, remind her to bring me along. OK?"

"OK." Iggy let go of Ella and she went back to her chair and continued reading her book. We left Ella outside and all fell into a heap on my couch. I was wedged between Iggy and Fang and if I could stop time I would, just to keep things like this. Iggy's hand was in mine and Fang had his arm slung over the back of the couch. Part of me still couldn't believe that this was going to end tomorrow; the three of us would never be together like this again.

I knew that I was forgetting something, something important. I thought about what I needed to do today and remembered that I had to give the guys their presents. I sprung up, jumped over the back of the couch and ran into the kitchen. "I have something for you guys," I said as I carried the boxes back. Fang looked at me with a puzzled look but a gaze of knowing spread across his face as he remembered the dog tags.

"Is it edible?" Iggy asked. "I'm starving." I laughed and gently smacked him in the back of the head.

"No you dork. It's your Christmas present. There's one for each of us," I said as I handed Fang and Iggy their boxes. They both tore into them and Fang grinned as he lifted his dog tag out of the box.

"This is great Max," he said as he put it around his neck. We watched Iggy as he took the dog tag out of the box and felt held it in his hands. He felt the smooth surface and paused when he felt the Braille on the back.

"What is this? It feels like a dog tag or something, but what is this on the back?" he asked confused.

"Well you're right. It is a dog tag, the front says Iggy on it and the back says a message in Braille. So if you want to know what it says you better learn how to read quickly. Fang and I have one too. Fang's says well, Fang and mine has Blaze written on it. All three of them have the same message on the back," I explained. Before I wrapped the other two I had put on my own dog tag and I held the cool metal in my hand. Fang and Iggy both put their dog tags around their necks and beamed at me.

"This is great Max. Thank you. Now the entire school will know that I have the greatest girlfriend in the history of ever," Iggy said happily.

"OK, now that deserves a hug," I said. I sat back down and wrapped my arms around his neck in a loving embrace. He gently kissed the top of my head and as he did I could have sworn I heard Fang gag. "Shut up," I grumbled back at him.

"Give a guy a break. The PDA is just, it's just wrong," Fang said with a shudder.

"Then get over here and join in the love!" Iggy cheered. Fang rolled his eyes and hugged us back. This day I discovered a three-way hug on a couch is very uncomfortable for the person in the middle. It felt like I was being crushed. Both Fang and Iggy let go when they realized that I couldn't breathe. After that the three of us just chilled in my living room. Iggy decided to tell us some joke he had heard on Comedy Central the other day and Ella happened to walk in on the punch line. The look on her face was so priceless I would have traded in my laptop just for a camera at that exact moment.

Around dinnertime Fang had to go home to help Vicky grill hamburgers. He promised to be there tomorrow when Iggy left to say good-bye to him on more time. We waved as he walked out through the deck door and headed out into my backyard. "Max," Iggy said solemnly. "I need to get home too. We're having a big dinner at my house and I can't be late."

"Why didn't you say so? I don't want to get you in trouble with your mom. We can leave now," I said. I stood up and searched for my keys.

"I wonder how long it will be until I'm here again," he pondered out loud as I searched for my missing shoe. I felt a pain in my heart as he said that, I knew there was a good chance he may never get to come back here again. Once I start college, I'll be out of the house and the chances of us both being here at the same time was very slim.

"I don't know Ig," I said sadly. Hand in hand we walked back out to my car and headed for Iggy's house. "What time are you leaving tomorrow?" I asked.

"My mom said about six AM." I silently groaned. Six AM had to be the single worst hour in the history of time. It shouldn't even exist. "I told her she's insane—it should be illegal for anyone to be up that early." I started laughing hysterically. "Oh snap, Max has finally cracked. We're all doomed!"

"No, it's just I was just thinking the same thing that you said about six AM," I gasped. Iggy stared at me for a moment before breaking out into laughter as well. As we laughed, I felt all my stress melt away. For the first time since the Iggy's accident, I felt light. We got to Iggy's house and somehow we managed to walk inside, even though we were both still laughing hysterically.

"Hi there you two," Robin said slowly as we walked in. She stared at us like we were a pair of idiots, which I was slowly becoming more convinced that we were.

"Hi Robin," I said as I tried to stop laughing. "Long story, don't ask." That's all she needed to hear. Robin walked back into the kitchen and Iggy and I both stopped laughing at almost the same time. "Well, I better go. I have dinner too," I said. Somehow, Iggy managed to grab onto my hand before I walked away.

"Now who's giving the crappy good-bye?" he asked. I smiled and he gave me a gentle kiss before letting go of my hand again.

"I'll see you at six. OK?" Iggy nodded and gave me a thumbs-up. As I drove home I realized that even though today had been totally perfect, tomorrow was going to be one of the most horrible days of my life. The boy I loved was leaving me, and I have no idea when I would get to see him again.

Dinner at my house went by quickly and I soon excused myself to go up to my room. I needed some time to gather my thoughts before tomorrow. During dinner I told my parents I was going to say good-bye to Iggy in the morning and they told me to say good-bye to him for them.

I was feeling so down after dinner, I thought I was going to break into tears. I found my IPod under a pile of papers on my desk and lay down on my bed to listen to it. I fell asleep pretty quickly that night, my mind was exhausted from all the stress I had been feeling recently. Right before I fell asleep, I gripped my dog tag with my hand and clutched it with all my might.

When my alarm went off at five thirty the next morning it took me a few minutes to figure out why I had set it to that time. Iggy was leaving today—I had to get up so I could say good-bye to him. It was dark out, since the sun wouldn't be up until seven, so getting ready was more difficult than normal. I didn't want to turn a light on in case it woke up Ella. She would kill me if I woke her up this early.

As I walked out of my house, I saw Fang and Nudge getting into Fang's car. "Fang! Nudge!" I called softly. They heard me and waved me over. "Nudge, I didn't know you were coming too."

"Of course. If I didn't say bye to Iggy before he left I don't think I'd ever forgive myself," she said with a huge yawn.

"Come on, let's get going," Fang said. Nudge got in the backseat, letting me sit shotgun. The streets were completely silent as we drove along, not even the birds were up yet. When we got to the Griffiths', they were all outside and Robin was loading bags into the back of her car.

Angel was asleep in a chair on the front porch and Gazzy sat on the stoop looking like he was about to pass out any second. I saw Iggy standing by his mom, looking as dead as I felt. "Hi everyone," I said as we got out of Fang's car. I made sure to not speak too loudly so I wouldn't wake up Angel. Iggy sat up when he heard us park the car and I ran over to him. "This is it," I whispered as I gave him a huge hug.

"I know, but it won't be forever," he whispered back into my hair. Fang came over and I stepped away so he could say good-bye to Iggy as well. To my surprise, they didn't give each other one of those guy-hug things. It was a legit hug. It just showed how close Iggy and Fang really were. Nudge then came over and practically jumped into his arms. We had only been there three minutes and she was already sobbing uncontrollably. Iggy was really calm about it though; he smoothed her hair and gently rubbed her back until Fang pulled her away.

"Iggy, we're leaving in five minutes," Robin called as she shut the trunk. Gazzy trudged over to the car and sat in one of the back seats. Robin picked up Angel and carried her to the car. This was it, my last five minutes with Iggy for who knows how long. There was only one thing I wanted to do, I wrapped my arms back around his neck and stood there. I wanted to remember everything about him—how tall he was compared to me, how skinny he was, how he smelled of that nice cologne guys' use, how it felt when he wrapped his arms back around me in a loving embrace. Iggy then put his forehead against mine and kissed me gently.

"I love you," he whispered so softly that only I could hear it. "Will you wait for me?"

"Of course I will," I said back to him. "Will you wait for me?"

"Without a doubt. Oh and I almost forgot. I want you to have this." Iggy let go of me for a moment and placed something on top of my head. It was his prized Dodgers cap.

"Iggy, I can't take this," I said as I tried to take it off.

"No, keep it. You're the only one I trust enough to hold onto it for me." I smiled and left the hat on.

"Iggy, it's time to go," Robin said sadly. I looked back at Iggy; our time couldn't be up already. It just wasn't fair.

He gave me one final kiss before whispering, "Good-bye." Then he let go and slowly made his way in the direction of Robin's car. I stood there, frozen, as Iggy got in the car and shut the door. Robin looked back at us, gave a sympathetic smile and got in the drives seat. Fang, Nudge and I watched as the car backed out of the driveway. Iggy rolled down the window, stuck his head out and waved at us. He kept waving until we couldn't see them anymore.

Once they were out of sight, I knew a piece of me had died inside. Without Iggy I would never be whole. As I stood there I guess Fang and Nudge got back into Fang's car because the next thing I heard was the beep of Fang's horn. I sat down in the shotgun seat and stared out the window. We got back to our homes and I went inside without saying bye to Nudge or Ella. Everyone in my house was still asleep so I went back upstairs and sat on my bed. My IPod was sitting on my bed but I didn't touch it. If I listened to it I might hear a song that reminded me of Iggy. Although I knew I wouldn't cry, I was out of tears. I was out of any sort of pain or feeling. By this point, I was dead inside.

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Me: *sob* This was hard to write. For some of you it may have sparked an old memory or feeling of saying goodbye to someone you care about. I know it did for me. Soon, it will be time to say goodbye to this story. There is one more chapter and again, I thank you all for coming with me on this journey.

Also a shout out to Call Me Bitter and FangFan1 for beign the only two who responded to my challenge in the previous chapter. You two rock! Well all of you rock but they rock in responding to challenges in addition to being awsome in general.

Well that's my ramblings for this chapter. Pease out all!


	20. A soap opera style ending

**Me: Holy crap I think I'm going to cry. This story is now coming to an end. Wow, just wow. Thank you all so much for following me on this story. It was a great joy to write it and I hope it was a great joy for you all to read it. I'd like to take this time to thank those that reviewed this story so here's the list- MaXiMum rIdE 22, Experiment12697, Fangfan1, Anne Taylor, Nofreakingway, Call me Bitter, xX-LxLa-X, danni55, flYegurl, Fnick's Witness, Miggy not Fax, xMiracleRain, alicerules1000, BrokenSky49, DayDreamer457 and panther pride. You guys are the ones that kept me going when I was writing this. A writer is nothing without their readers.**

**Iggy: Hey since this is the last chapter does it mean that I get to go home now?**

**Me: Yes Iggy, you can leave once you say ths disclaimer. And thanks for your help. I love you you blind sexist pyro chef.**

**Iggy: You're not so bad yourself Water Wolf. Hey everyone Water Wolf doesn't own any of the characters featured in Maximum Ride! See ya later! *takes off flying***

**Me: Well, that's that I guess. At the end of the chapter I'll tell you all about my upcoming story. So enjoy and I apoligize for the cliche ending- cliche endings are the only kind I can write. So of you don'l like them- sorry...please review anyways though!**

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Chapter 20: A soap opera style ending

With Iggy gone I had no reason to be happy. The day he left was the last day of my life. Months passed and the gaping hole in my heart didn't heal. Everyone was really sympathetic and tried their best to help but nothing got through to me. I had put up barriers around myself.

It wasn't until May that someone's words actually got through to me. "Max," my mom said. I looked up at her, but not at her. I didn't look at anyone more; rather, I looked past them. "Do you remember what Sunday is?" She sat at the kitchen table with my grandmother who had come for a week-long visit. My mom had told her about Iggy leaving so she too gave me the space I wanted.

"Graduation," I mumbled. I had taken my finals the week before and had been off school since. Just like the rest of my grades I got consistent grades. They were all Cs. In the span of five months I had gone from a high B, low A student to a C student. School didn't matter to me anymore, when I was there I all I could think about was Iggy. It was a miracle that I had gotten accepted into college at all. Thankfully I had taken my ACT before Iggy left or else I know I would have failed it.

My mom smiled sympathetically at me. I was grateful that she gave me all the space that I wanted. It some sometime in March though I think that she said she would send me to a therapist if I became self-destructive. As empty as I was inside I knew that wasn't a possibility. My feelings were different than that. I wasn't depressed or angry, I was empty. "I'm taking it you don't want a party then?" my mom asked. Naturally, I nodded. Our conversation ended right there.

An hour or so later I was sitting in my room like I usually did when there as a knock on my door. Ella cracked it open and I nodded, giving her permission to come in. "Max? Nudge and I were wondering if you would like us to give you a manicure for Graduation on Sunday," Ella asked meekly. Nudge was standing behind her, a bag with nail polish and other manicure junk in it.

"Fine. Make it fast though," I said with a shrug. I watched as her face lit up and both of them bounded into my room. Ella took my hand and led me over to my desk chair and pushed me down onto it.

"Let's see. Nudge, what color should we use?" Ella asked as she sifted through the dozens of little glass bottles.

"Well we don't have gray nail polish. Do they even make that? And orange is a gross color of nail polish unless it's Halloween. That throws out our school colors. Maybe pink?" If I had been my normal self I would have yelled and hollered if they tried to put pink on me. But now I could really care less. "I've got it! This one!" Nudge shrieked. She held up a small bottle that contained a very pale pink color. It was so light, it almost looked clear but there was defiantly the faintest hint of pink in it.

"French manicure?" Ella asked.

"French manicure," Nudge said in agreement. I put absolutely no fight as they filed and painted my nails. In the end it didn't look as bad as I thought it would. Ella and nudge eventually left and I resumed my original place on my bed. That's all I really did anymore. I would sleep until noon, eat something, then go back up to my room until it was time for dinner and after that I might read a book until I fell asleep again. The less contact I had with people, the easier it was for me to keep my walls up. I hadn't hung out with Fang, Dylan or Sam in weeks. I had seen them at school and that's about it.

The last time I had gone somewhere other than school was when Fang dragged me to Brianna's funeral the day after Iggy left. I was there long enough to give Lissa and hug and say sorry to her parents. After I did that I sat in Fang's car and waited for him to come out.

I glanced over at the calendar on my desk and realized that it was Friday. I was graduating the day after tomorrow. Then, in August I would be going to college, at San Francisco State University. I would still be an hour away from Iggy, but it sure beat the five hour distance we had now. Hopefully I would be able to see him a lot while we were in school, but I had to wait until August for that. By then it would have been over half a year. "Max? It's dinner time," I heard my mom call. Robotically I got off my bed and went to our kitchen. My grandma had made dinner and as she set it on the table I lost my appetite. Sitting on the table in front of me was a plate of tacos.

"I'll be in my room," I said as soon as I saw the food. My mom and grandma stared at me as I walked out of the kitchen.

"Did I do something wrong?" I heard my grandma ask as I pushed past Ella on the stairs and went straight back to my room. Seeing those tacos brought back a new wave of memories and I couldn't let anyone in my family see my wall weaken. No one came up to get me; words couldn't begin to describe how grateful I was about that. I ended up falling asleep without any dinner.

The next morning I woke up earlier than normal, I woke up at nine in the morning. With a groan I rolled out of bed and realized how hungry I was. My house was silent and I found a note from Ella on the kitchen counter. "Max—went shopping my grandma. Be back after lunch. Luv Ella" I crumpled up the note and threw it in the trash bin. The best thing about having company was that there was a lot more food in the house. I poured myself a bowl of cereal and looked out the deck door as I ate.

Nudge and Fang were in the backyard swimming. I knew they both missed Iggy, but they didn't take it as hard as I did. No one did. I think even Angel and Gazzy were getting used to him being gone. My mom said that Robin told her Angel fell asleep without crying last week for the first time since Iggy left. Part of me wanted to feel like that; to be extremely sad. Instead, I had no emotions in me at all. That was just my luck.

I finished eating and put my bowl in the dishwasher. It was a nice day outside, sunny and from what it looked like, warm. Instead of sitting up in my room all day, I thought it would be a nice change of pace to sit outside. I got my book from my room and sat down in one of our lawn chairs. "Max!" I looked up to see Nudge coming through the gate. Her dark hair dripped sprayed water everywhere as she ran over to me. "You should come join us," she said cheerfully. That's what I admired about Nudge, inside I knew she was just as sad about losing Iggy as I was but she had the strength to hide it. On the outside she seemed perfectly happy. I was jealous of her ability to do that.

"No thanks Nudge. Maybe another time," I said as I lifted my book back up to my face. The next thing I knew, my book was ripped out of my hands and thrown across the lawn. "I was reading that," I said icily.

"Max, I know Iggy leaving hurt you but you can't shut yourself off from everyone else. We're your friends and we miss you. You need to pull yourself together," Nudge yelled. This was very out of character for Nudge. The only response I could muster was a blink. "Stop wallowing in self-pity and move on!" If Nudge wasn't like my sister and if my emotions weren't turned off; I would have punched her in the face.

"Nudge!" Fang said harshly from the fence. I glanced over at him; he had his 'I'm going to kill someone' look on his face. "We need to talk. Now." She took one look at Fang's face and fear quickly grew in her eyes. Fang dragged her back to their yard and I could hear him yelling at her in a hushed voice. Only Fang could pull that off, extreme anger but yelling in a quiet voice.

When he was done Nudge looked back at me but didn't come over. Instead, she went inside and shut the door firmly behind her. Fang smiled softly and came back over to me. "Sorry about her. She's still learning when to shut up," Fang joked. I shrugged and got up to retrieve my book.

"It's Nudge. She'll never learn. That was pretty out of character for her though," I said with a shrug as I sat back down. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Fang open his mouth as if he was about to say something else but no words actually came out. With a sigh of defeat Fang left me alone with my book and got back in his pool.

Until Ella and my grandma came home from shopping, no one bothered me. It was one of the most relaxing afternoons I've had since January. Now I just had to get ready for graduation tomorrow.

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Fang POV (first time for everything I know)

As I swam laps in my pool I kept looking over at Max. She just sat there, reading her dang book. That's all she ever did anymore, sit and read. The last out of school thing she did was go to the funeral with me; after that she's been living behind a stone wall of no emotions.

For the first month or so I was really worried that she was going to do something drastic, so I kept a close eye on her, but Max is smarter than that. It didn't stop me from worrying though; plus Iggy would kill me if I let anything happen to her while he was gone. "Nick, can you come here for a minute?" I heard Vicky call from inside. I swam to the edge of the pool and climbed out. As I dried off with a towel I took one more look at Max; she was sitting there completely impassive.

"Yeah?" I asked as I went inside.

"You have a phone call." Vicky handed me the phone and with a small smile walked away. That was weird. Who could be calling me on or house phone?

I brought the phone up to my ear. "Hello?" I asked. The second I heard the voice on the other side my face broke out into one of those rare smiles I only give when I'm really happy about something. The phone conversation ended up being very productive—I was looking forward to everything that was going to happen within the next few days. It was going to be amazing.

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Max POV

That night I had a dream—well it was more of a nightmare really. I surprised myself by thinking this but I think it was more terrifying than the reoccurring nightmare I had in September. In my nightmare I was walking down a dimly lit path somewhere. I wasn't sure exactly where I was, or if it was supposed to be anywhere in particular.

As I walked far off in the distance I was someone standing there. Despite the poor lighting I could see every feature of that person perfectly. Messy blond hair, striking blue eyes and a smile that could make the hardest of hearts melt. Standing there, waiting for me, was Iggy. With a cry of joy I began to run towards him but for whatever reason he didn't do the same. I tried calling out to him, but the words couldn't leave my mouth.

The next thing I saw made me stop dead in my tracks. A shadowy figure came up behind Iggy, growing closer with each step. I tried to scream for him to look out but it didn't work. The shadowy figure soon came into focus as well; it turned out to be a girl. Long blonde hair fell over her shoulders and perfectly framed a pair of bright green eyes. She was just as tall as Iggy and possibly skinner then him. As she came up to him, he turned and smiled at her. Then what I saw next is what broke me completely. He wrapped his arms around her thin waist and kissed her. I stood there, in horror. Was this true? Had Iggy found someone else? I couldn't believe it.

With a scream I woke up and fell out of bed. I was panting hard and my entire body was trembling. That image was burned into my brain, it wouldn't go away. "What's wrong Max?" Ella practically yelled as she flew into my room. "You're eyes are the size of dinner plates, what happened?" Ella sat down next to me as I tried to control my breathing. I was the emotionless brick wall; no one could see how I felt.

Once my breathing returned to normal I faked a small smile and said, "You know me. I'm a klutz. I just sort of fell out of bed and it startled me. Sorry for waking you up." In the light from the moon I could see Ella frown.

"You're a horrible liar Max. Did you know that? Now tell me what really happened or else I'll go wake up Mom," she threatened. I gulped, a Mom threat wasn't something Ella took lightly. If my mom found out I was having nightmares about Iggy she would send me to see a quack without a second thought. I sighed and retold Ella the events of my nightmare. When I got to the part about how I saw Iggy kiss the other girl, it looked like she was going to cry. "Oh Max. That must have been a horrible nightmare. But, it was only a nightmare. Iggy loves you; he would never do anything like that to you.' I nodded slowly, putting my wall back up brick by brick. There was no way that I was going to let Ella see any emotions out of me.

"Thank for the pep talk Ells, but I just want to go back to bed now. I'll see you in the morning," I picked up my sheet from the floor and crawled back into bed. Ella sighed and left my room without arguing. It took me a while to fall asleep again but when I finally did my dreams were peaceful.

The next morning I awoke to the sweet smell of pancakes. I quickly got out of bed, threw on a t-shirt and shorts and ran down the stairs. I wanted to get to breakfast before Ella did. We usually would get in a fight about who got the first pancakes. We soon devised a simple system; whoever got there first would get the first pancakes. Ella wasn't at the table when I got there so I happily sat down to wait for my breakfast. "Good morning Max," my mom said cheerfully. I nodded and poured myself a glass of juice. "And here you go." She put a stack of three delicious, fluffy pancakes right in front of me. As I lathered them in butter and syrup my mouth began to water. "Today's the big day. My baby girl is going to graduate from high school." I saw my mom was tearing up a bit but she cried at everything so I didn't think too much of it. I once saw her cry about a TV show where the guy broke up with his fiancé or something like that. "This is every mother's dream—to see her little girl graduate from high school."

"Gee Mom, what about me? Am I not your little girl anymore?" Ella asked from behind my mom. She had a small smirk on her face and sat down across from me at the table.

"Of course you're my little girl too Ella. You're both my little girls. But I get to have you around for a few more at least," my mom said as she rubbed Ella's shoulders. I rolled my eyes and dug into my pancakes. This was too much mushy happy feelings for me. Sometime during my inhaling of my breakfast I caught a glimpse of Ella. She was sitting there, staring at me. Her face screamed 'I'm still worried about you but I won't say anything to Mom.' I nodded and returned to my pancakes.

Just as I was finishing up my dad walked in a planted a kiss on the top of my head. "Hi Sweetheart. So, what time is everything going to go down today?" he asked.

"Ceremony starts at noon," I said as I put my plate in the sink. "Get there early though, so you can get good seats." Instead of waiting for someone to tell me what time they were going to show up, I went back upstairs to my room. I took out my disgusting orange colored gown and set it down on my bed. Seniors had to get to the school at eleven thirty so we would have time to line up. My clock read ten forty-five; so I had to start getting ready now. After I took a shower I brushed my hair until all the tangles were out. Then I actually blow dried it.

From my closet I found a different shirt to wear, since the t-shirt had too high of a color to wear under the gown. I put on a plain white tank-top but kept the shorts I had on. Naturally, I didn't put on any sort of make-up. I wasn't allowed to wear tennis shoes, which made me really mad so I borrowed a pair of flats from Ella.

"Max, are you ready? We want to take some pictures before you go!" my mom yelled from the bottom of the stairs. I threw on my gown and cap and went downstairs to find my parents and my grandma with their cameras. This was not going to be fun. After posing with everyone in my family, a shot with my grandma and a family shot I was finally allowed to go to the school. "We'll see you there Max. Good luck Honey," my mom said as she handed me my keys. When I got to the school I saw a lot of cars already there. When I got the cafeteria, where all the seniors were meeting, I found a spot in the back corner and stood there. My attempt to stay invisible didn't work for long though, Dylan and Sam found me.

"Today's the day Max! Can you believe it?" Dylan asked excitedly. He waved to someone in the crowd and I saw Fang push his way past people to get to us. He looked as uncomfortable as I felt. The first thing I noticed was that his hair looked weird; Nudge must have gone to town with the hair gel.

"I just want to get this over with," Fang mumbled as he reached us. I nodded in agreement. Sam and Dylan started talking about some big graduation party that was going to happen after the ceremony, but I didn't pay attention. I simply stared out the window, and then, from the corner of my eye I thought I saw a flash of something black walk towards the school. I blinked and rubbed my eyes but whatever I saw was gone. The principal then got up and told us to all get into our lines. At our school they gave out diplomas in class order and due to my grades during second semester I had dropped quite a bit in class rank. Before I had been in the top forty but now I was actually in the bottom fifty—out of over two-hundred students in the graduating class. Fang, Dylan and Sam were all pretty high up in class rank so I didn't get to sit next to them. Actually, I didn't know the people I was sitting next to. Their names were Miranda Berkley and Jeff Turner.

The processional march started up and we all filed two by two into the gymnasium where the ceremony was being kept. I walked through the doors and it felt like it was a million degrees in there. I felt bad for all the parents who had to sit at the very top of the bleachers; it must be unbearable up there.

After some boring speeches by the superintendent and the principal a couple students got up to give their speeches. The first person to go was a guy that Dylan was friends with, someone named Ronald Dunn. His speech was pretty boring, I felt myself space out after about thirty seconds. When he was done someone else got up on stage. I would have continued out my spacing out but a flash of red hair caught my attention. Lissa was giving a graduation speech.

"My friends, fellow classmates, teachers and parents: I want to take this time to thank you for giving us this opportunity to graduate from our beautiful school today," she began. "I would say these have been the best four years of my life because that's what everyone says about high school. Though, I think that's not entirely true. Sure, a lot of high school was fun—going to football games, hanging out with friends and even things like the infamous food fight our junior year. I know I speak for more than myself when I say this though—not every minute of high school has been amazing. This year I made some mistakes, treated people the way I shouldn't have. I regret those mistakes and I wanted to say I'm sorry to those that I've hurt over the year. I like to think this year was an eye opener for what life really is like. Not everything is all happy and full of sparkles and rainbows like some people think it will be when they graduate.

"A lot of things in life are great, but there has to be some pain and sadness in with the joy though. As many of you know, this school has gone through a lot of pain together. We lost a dear friend in a horrible accident, some of us lost more than just one person we care about." I was paying complete attention by this point. I could have sworn I saw Lissa look right at me as she spoke, it was like she was apologizing to me with her speech. "Though, through this pain I think we all learned something important. Together we all learned that life won't always be perfect, but it's not the hard times that define our lives. It's the times of joy and happiness that make life truly important. The people that we've lost wouldn't want us to live in that pain, so instead we must try to focus on the good things. That is what I've taken from being here at HP. I'm glad that I could make this journey with all of you and I hope we will always look back on our good times here. Thank you all." As Lissa steped away from the podium, the entire gym burst into a thundering boom of applause. As I looked around; there wasn't a dry eye in the room. Carefully I lifted my hand to my own face and felt a few stray wet tears fall down the side of my face. Lissa's speech had actually reduced me to tears, even though I hadn't cried in months. She brought back some emotion into me. I didn't know she had it in her.

As the applause began to die down, the principal stepped up to the podium and announced that they would begin handing out the diplomas. As I sat there, waiting for my name to be called I thought about what Lissa had said. I knew I was going to regret thinking this later, but she was right. Maybe living in the pain of the past was the wrong way to go. I knew that Iggy would kill me if he saw the way I was acting. JJ would too for that matter. Maybe it was time to take down the walls I had put up around myself; they were getting hard to keep up anyway.

My name was called and I got out of my chair. As I shook the principal's hand and took my diploma I couldn't believe that this was really happening. My high school experience was finally over—it was time to start a whole new chapter of my life. By the time I took my seat, the last row of people had gotten their diplomas. The principal said some closing words and the room broke out into applause. The entire class then took their caps and threw them high into the air—I felt like we were in some cheesy movie but it was fun all the same.

As we all processed out, I don't think we could have moved any faster if we tried. Once we were back in the cafeteria I began looking around for Fang, Dylan and Sam. I was them standing in the back where we had been before. "We did it," I said. For the first time since January I found myself giving a real smile. Fang's eyes lit up when he saw me smile and I gave him a hug. Then I gave a hug to Sam and Dylan as well. After that we dispersed into the crowd, congratulating others that we knew. When I saw Lissa, I didn't even wait to say anything; I simply wrapped my arms around her. "Thank you," I whispered. Then I let her go, smiled and walked away.

"Max!" I turned to see Ella running towards me, a smile on her face. "Congrats!" She wrapped her arms around me in a hug and nearly squeezed the life out of me. I looked up to see my parents and grandma come towards me, all looking very happy. They all gave me a hug and from behind me I felt someone hug-tackle me. Naturally, it was Nudge.

"Way to go Max! It's so cool that you and Fang are all done with high school now but Ella and I are going to miss you guys next year. Well I guess maybe it'll be a little easier since we'll be the only people with the last name Brown or Batchelder in the school," she rambled on. I then put my hand over her mouth to shut her up.

"So, are you ready to go home now Max?" my mom asked. I looked around one last time to make sure I had said bye to everyone that I needed to when my eyes stopped on something I never thought I would see. There was a black dog sitting by the door to the cafeteria, wearing a vest with the words 'service dog' printed on the side. I think my heart temporarily stopped beating when I saw the person holding the dog's harness. Messy blond hair hid striking blue eyes that weren't looking at anything in particular.

"It's not possible," I whispered. Ella was the only one who heard me and she turned to see what I was looking at. Her eyes grew twice their size at the sight. "Ells, am I imagining this?"

"I think its real Max. What are you still doing here? Go!" I didn't need to be told twice. I sprinted across the cafeteria, almost running into some old granny along the way.

"Iggy!" I screamed. He turned in my direction and smiled. I barely slowed down as I ran straight into his arms. The force almost knocked both of us over but I didn't care. As I felt his embrace around me, I knew this was real. "You're here, you're really here," I sobbed.

"This has to be the most amazing feeling in my life. You have no idea how much I've missed you Max," he said as he held me tightly.

"How did you get here?" I asked.

"It's a long story actually. One day I got a phone call to my room from Fang-"

"He told you how I had been acting, hadn't he?" I interrupted.

"Yep. And we're going to have a long talk about that young lady," he said with a very fake serious tone. "After I got the call from Fang I called home and asked my mom if I could come home for graduation. As you can see she said yes, since I wouldn't be here if she said no. After that Fang and I started talking about if we were going to tell you or not. I called Fang yesterday and asked him where I should come to find you." I made a mental note to thank Fang as soon as I saw him again. "Oh, I almost forgot. Max, this is Total." He gestured down to the dog at his feet. He perked up his floppy ears and the sound of his name and wagged his tail.

"Yo Iggy! What are you doing here man?" Dylan yelled to us. He came over and they gave each other a guy hug. "It's great to see you dude."

"You too Dylan."

"Come on Iggy; let's go find Fang. Then we can get out of here. I want to get out of this thing was fast as I can," I said as I shook my gown. Iggy whistled and Total perked up, eager to do some work. I took Iggy's other hand and we weaved through the crowds of people. Total walked in front of us, taking Iggy on the easiest path through the people. "There he is," I said as I saw Fang's black hair amidst a crowd of girls who were being all fan-girlish.

He saw us and pushed away from the girls as quickly as he could. Fang gave Iggy a hug and flashed one of his awesome and very rare smiles. "You are like one of the best friends a girl could ask for. Did you know that?" I said.

"As a matter of fact I did know that. Though thank you for pointing it out," Fang joked as he draped an arm over my shoulder in a half-hug. "Say, what are we all still doing here? We're graduated! Let's get the heck out of this place!" Together, the three of us went off to find mine and Fang's parents. Both of my parents were standing there, jaws hung open when they saw us walk over with Iggy. The nine of us all headed back to our homes and once we got back Fang, Iggy and I all went to sit in my backyard and talk. Being with Iggy made me feel more alive than I had in months and I didn't want this time to end.

Iggy told us about his new school and all the people he had met there. "Some of them are pretty nice, but no one there is as cool as you two are," he said. I knew that I had to talk to Iggy about my dream, but I wanted to wait until it was just the two of us.

"Fang, can you come here for a second? I think I broke something," Nudge called from their porch door. Fang rolled his eyes and stood up from his spot on the grass.

"Be right back," he said as he sulked over to his house. Nudge saying she broke something was nothing new to any of us. Hopefully the damage wasn't too bad this time though. Last time she broke something it ended up costing Fang almost three hundred dollars. Fang never trusted her around his music equipment after that.

I fell backwards into the soft grass and looked over at Iggy. He was sitting there, rubbing Total's ears. "I was worried about you," he finally said. I looked over at him but he was still sitting there, not actually looking at me. "When Fang told me you had shut yourself off from everyone I was afraid of what you were going to do. Promise me that you won't lock yourself away anymore."

"OK. Hey Iggy, umm I don't know how to ask this but it's been begging me all day. Last night I had a dream, you were in it but there was another girl," I said slowly.

"What did she look like?"

"Tall almost as tall as you. Bright green eyes and blonde hair." Iggy's face fell when I described the girl. "What?"

"Her name is Lily. She's in most of my classes. That girl is a parasite. No matter how many times I tell her that I have a girlfriend, she won't get the hint. That's so weird that you had a dream about her though, or at least someone similar to her. From what she said her hair is actually brown or something like that. I really don't care that much. She's the only thing I don't like about that school. Well that, and being away from you." We just sat there in silence for a few minutes. Total lay down in the grass and yawned. "Do you realize this is going to be the first summer we've spent apart?" he finally asked.

"Yeah, it's going to be rough. Maybe I can convince my parents to let me visit you though. I really don't think I can wait until August to be near you again." From inside Fang's house I could just make out the sounds of yelling; which meant Fang was pretty mad about whatever Nudge broke.

"So, can you believe you're done with high school? How's that feel?"

"Better than I thought it would that's for sure. I'm so relieved that this year is finally over. Ninety percent of it has been a nightmare," I said with a sigh. I thought about all the drama I've had to deal with this year; it's been more drama than I've had in my entire life combined.

"What about the other ten percent?" Iggy asked.

"It's been amazing," I said. "But I don't want to think about what's happened this past year. I want to focus on the here and now. I'm done with high school forever, I have the two most important people in my life with me again and for the first time in months I feel alive." I grinned happily and fell back into the grass. There wasn't a single thing that could ruin this moment for me now. Iggy fell back beside me, rolled onto his side and gave me a gentle kiss on the forehead. That was the topper of the most amazing day of my life. No one could ruin this moment for me if they tried. I felt so relaxed and so at peace; when a blast of ice cold water hit me in the face. I snapped my eyes up to see Fang grinning above me, holding a second water balloon.

I sprang up, shaking excess water from my face. Iggy was on his feet too, water dripping off of his hair. "You're dead Fang!" I shrieked. With a smirk he took off running as I chased him around my yard. I almost caught him, but I ended up tripping over the sprinkler that my dad had left out. I fell to the ground with a thud and began laughing hysterically. That was just my luck; I swear my life is like a bad soap opera. There never seems to be a moment of rest or relaxation. I caught my breath and looked at my friends. Fang had fallen over in laughter and was clutching his side. Iggy on the other hand was standing there confused, since he had no idea what had just happened. I smiled to myself before standing up to kill Fang. If my life was a soap opera, I was glad to have these two as my fellow cast mates.

*You're a diabotical little pyro aren't you?*

* * *

**Well there you have it. The end of the story- I hope it was up to par.**

**All right now onto some new business- my next story. I'm considering using this for NaNoWriMo so in your reviews tell me what you think. Here's a basic plot summary.**

**~After the events in Max the Flock is trying to get some well deserved rest but naturally fate has it out for them. They soon meet up with Phoenix, a young Avian American who doesn't want anything to do with them. The problem is-they might need her help. How will two such different forces come together to save one of the Flock's own? You'll have to read and find out.~**

**Well- that's about it. Sorry to any Miggy loves who despise Fax but there will be a little tiny bit in here. It won't be anywhere near the amout seen in Max though. And maybe just maybe so IgguxOC fluff. But again- not a lot. Tell me what you think.**

**One last thought- in case any of you were wondering about the quote at the end of the story- that's how I end all my fics. With a quote from whatever type of Fanfiction it may be. So one last time- thank you all for reading and I look forward to writing for you in the future! bye bye for now :)**


	21. Important AN regarding possible sequal

OK this is one of those things I swore that I would never do, but I feel the need to because I have to get word out to my Miggy fans somehow.

As you all know, this story is LONG over. But, for a long time I've been toying with the idea of writing a sequel to 'How My life became a Soap Opera' and I really want to know what my fans of this story think of that. I would have posted this in one of the forums, but most of the Miggy ones are dead from what I've seen and I don't know how many of them have read the story.

So basically, if you would like to see a sequel of some sort to this story, please let me know either in a review or a PM so I can start planning it. It would mean a lot to me to get some feedback on this story. I know how many of you really enjoyed reading it, probably as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'll also be putting up a poll on my profile for this if you would rather cast your vote that way.

I look forward to hearing from you.

(And yes I know that doing this is against the rules of the site and once I get some feedback I will take this chapter down. Therefore, I would appreciate it no one reports me for doing this. After all, this story is over and I needed to get word out somehow to the people who actually read this story.)


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